


The Lady Avenger

by MadameBaggio



Series: The Iron Lady [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers Family, Bisexual Female Character, F/M, Fluff, Genderbending, Tony Stark is a woman, always was
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2018-03-26 03:36:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3835525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadameBaggio/pseuds/MadameBaggio
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Finally that freaking mess on New York had been cleaned. But, for some reason, Toni Stark had gotten the Avengers as her "prize". And for some weird reason they all came to live ON HER BEAUTIFUL BUILDING! At least she got a whole bunch of eye candy...</p><p>SteveXToni. More ships to sail eventually...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It begins again...

**Author's Note:**

> So... Here is the sequel!
> 
> I hope you are all as excited about it as I am. When I started writing in English I didn't think it would work that well. So... You know, thanks for reading. This is amazing. Seriously.
> 
> Toni is going to cross a bunch of Marvel movies now. The third Iron Man, Thor 2 and CA: TWS, passing briefly through Agents of SHIELD. I will change a lot of things. We are not going to get to Avengers 2 (WHICH IS MORE THAN AWESOME, IS PURE LOVE AND I NEED TO SEE AGAIN). Also, expect the unexpected, because some pretty crazy crossovers will show up here. You've been warned ;)
> 
> The rating is for language most, maybe some spicy scenes up ahead. I haven't really decided on those yet...
> 
> Hope you enjoy it!

“Even though the building took more than a couple of hits during the attack – including that Loki shaped whole on the floor, that I’m so keeping –most of its structure was left untouched.” Toni started explaining to Bruce. “Labs are safe and sound. The most damaged parts were relocated to the empty spaces, that are still plenty. Fortunately, the living areas were ready and undamaged. So... You have your room ready for you.”

“You mean my floor, right?” Bruce teased.

“Half floor.” Toni corrected. “If Thor ever moves in you’re gonna have a neighbor.”

Even if in the beginning Toni had absolutely no interest in letting people live in her Tower, besides Pepper – cause Pepper is Pepper – she had included in the original plant ten residential floors with two apartments each. Pepper kept saying it was too much, that the apartments were too big, but who cares about these minor things?

Eventually a big chunk of S.I. was going to be moved to the Tower. For now only Toni, Pepper and Bruce lived there, plus a handful of staff that only worked in the building. This was plenty of people, as far as Toni was concerned.

Maybe that’s why she was so shocked to find a person – a freaking human being! –on the lab she was about to show Bruce.

“There is a person in my lab…” She said shocked. “PEPPER! JARVIS! Pepper, there is a... Person in my lab!”

Pepper, who had been right behind Toni and Bruce, talking on her cellphone, just looked at the mysterious woman and waved, asking for a second.

“Who is she?” Toni demanded.

It was not like “she” wasn’t a fine looking woman – OK, Toni might be pissed, but she was a great appreciator of the human beauty, either way. Steve was the biggest proof of that.

The woman had dark brown hair that fell to the middle of her back in large curls, her eyes were partially hidden by thick reading glasses, that gave her a half-nerd, half-librarian kind of look. Her clothes screamed P.A.

Toni was playing deaf.

Pepper finished her call and smiled once again to the intruder before turning in Toni’s direction. “This is Cordelia Myers. Your new assistant.”

Toni’s jaw hit the floor. “What?” she screamed “No! Why? I don’t need an assistant! I’ve got you.” She tried to make her best puppy eyes to Pepper. Even though they never worked on her.

Pepper rolled her eyes and put a hand on Toni’s shoulder. “Toni, I have a multibillionaire company to run.” The socialite was so not liking this condescending tone of Pepper “I can’t be your assistant anymore or help you on you crazy schemes! And now there are two scientists in the building. No offenses, Bruce.” She quickly turned to Bruce, that made a gesture to indicate no offense taken. “So… This is your new assistant. Have fun. And don’t break this one, okay?”

Pepper turned and left, but Toni chased her.

“Pepper, she might be a psycho! She can be a spy from the enemy.” Toni clamored. “How can you trust my life to a complete stranger?”

Pepper rolled her eyes once again on the face of such drama. One of these days she was going to get cross eyed because of her ex-girlfriend-slash-boss.

“Phil checked her personally.” She informed.

“Oh… I didn’t know you guys were talking again.” Toni said carefully.

Pepper eyes went to the floor. “No, I’m not talking to him. That was before…” She took a deep breath and looked back at Toni. “Cordelia worked six months for me. Then I realized she would do better working directly with you.”

Toni ignored all of that.

“Pepper, why don’t you talk with Agent? Maybe…”

“No.” Pepper was very firm “Go back there and be nice to Cordelia. She is a fast learner and you will realize she is no one’s doormat.” A smile appeared on her face “Actually I am very interested to see what is going to happen.”

“Well, if she goes the same way all the others before her went, I will end up sleeping with her and then I’ll have to fire her.” And wasn’t that the ugly truth?

“What about Bruce?” Pepper asked confused.

“What about Bruce?” Toni was confused too.

“Aren’t you guys together?”

“Not as far as I know.”

“Oh” Pepper looked surprised. “You guys have been so close these days, I thought…” She didn’t finish the sentence.

“Nope.” Toni explained smiling. “Bruce is like Rhodey to me. A friend. We don’t blow friendships up this way. Do you know how hard is to find people to put up with me?” She teased, making Pepper laugh.

“Okay, whatever you say.” But she didn’t look really convinced “Are you really throwing that charity ball?”

“Of course!” Toni exclaimed as if it was obvious.

“Are you going stag again?”

“Can’t you come with me?”

“After we broke up we agreed to not give the media ideas and all the fans that wrote fanfictions about us, remember?”

“Oh…” Toni was thinking. “Did you know that, in these two weeks since the attack, there are a bunch of websites dedicated to Avengers fanfictions? I am the epicenter of them, as usual.” And she looked really proud of it.

“I am afraid of asking exactly what that means.” Pepper replied.

“You should.” Toni admitted. “Okay, I will ask Bruce to come to the ball with me.”

“Good idea. Ask Cordelia to get you a dress and a tuxedo for him.”

“This Cordelia won’t last the month.” Toni warned.

Pepper didn’t answer, but she did have a very weird/smug smile on when she kissed Toni’s cheek and left.

The brunette took a deep breath and went back to the room. Cordelia was still standing there exactly in the same place, looking completely unimpressed with Toni’s tirade. Bruce was, for some unknown reason, staring at a white board.

“Listen up, young lady…” Toni was very serious now “We have a gala in benefit of the New York City in two weeks. That is the only reason I am not firing you right now. I need a dress and Bruce needs a tuxedo. I don’t think you will last much more than these two weeks.”

The other woman merely arched a perfect eyebrow and stared Toni down.

“I am guessing that you will want something red and gold.” She said simply. “Size four for the dress and nine for the shoes?”

Toni narrowed her eyes.

“I still say you’re not gonna last.”


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all I am really sorry for all the delay. I had a hard time translating this chapter since it was so long. My life also took a turn to completely crazy last week and my students were doing their best to drive me crazy.
> 
> Second, I finished it in a hurry so I could post soon. I sent it to my beta, but he hasn't returned it yet. I am really sorry about what you might read here. I haven't checked it yet, so I will assume the grammar is kind of sad here. As soon as he sends it back to me I will replace it.
> 
> Now, thank you all for the support and for still reading this craziness of mine.
> 
> I think I said it before, but just to reinforce: this fanfic has no connection to Age of Ultron. At all.
> 
> Hope you enjoy it!

One year later...

“…and you know, and thank you, by the way. For listening. There’s just something about getting it off my chest and putting it out in the atmosphere instead of holding this in. I mean, this is what gets people sick, you know? Wow, I had no idea you were such a good listener. To be able to share all my intimate thoughts and my experiences with someone, it just cuts the weight of it in half, you know? Like a snake swallowing its own tail. Everything comes full circle. And the fact that you’ve been able to help me process…” Toni looked at Bruce just in time to see the doctor-scientist drop his glasses. Because he’d been sleeping the entire time.

“So, uh…” He started, sheepishly.

“You with me?” Toni asked.

“I was, yeah” Bruce said quickly “Where we, uh, were at…”

“… you were actively napping?”

“I was… I…” he cleared his throat “I, uh, drifted.”

“Where did I lose you?” She asked.

Bruce hesitated. “Elevator in Switzerland.”

“So you heard none of it.” She nagged.

“I’m sorry, I’m not that kind of doctor.” He apologized “I’m not a therapist, it’s not my training, I don’t have the…”

“What? The time?”

“… temperament.”

Toni narrowed her eyes. “You know what? Now that I think about it…” she said dramatically, throwing her head back on the couch “Oh God, my original wound. 1993, alright? I’m 14 years old and I still have a nanny? That was weird.”

Bruce snickered and mumbled something, when somebody knocked on the door. Cordelia, who Toni started calling Cora when it became obvious that she couldn’t get rid of her, came in.

“Miss Stark, Captain Rogers is on the phone. Again.” There was a clear tone of reproach in her voice “Can I put him through?”

If Toni was less strong-willed, she might have succumbed to the pressure of Bruce and Cora’s looks… But since she wasn’t, she gave the same answer she’d been giving since Christmas: “Tell him I’m busy. I’m in the middle of my therapy session!”

Giving Toni one last disapproving look, Cora smiled at Bruce and left.

Toni already knew exactly what the other scientist was going to say, so she decided to go first.

“My new assistant has the hots for you, Bruce.” She stated “Usually, that would bother me, because… well, she’s mine, but there’s no one in this world, except maybe Capsicle, who needs to get laid more than you do. So, you have my blessing.” She said magnanimously.

Bruce was completely sidetracked for a moment. “Toni… this is very…” He looked perplexed “Generous of you, I guess, but… I don’t need anything.”

“Yes, you do!” Toni exclaimed emphatically, getting up from the couch she’d been lying on. “And I’ve been looking through your files and I know you’re scared your heart will start beating too fast and you might turn green and uncomfortably big…”

“TONI!” Bruce shouted, scandalized.

“…but I don’t think it’s going to be a problem. If you want, we can do a test drive right now! Oh, look, how convenient.” She said with false surprise “There’s a couch here!” She walked up to Bruce, stopping between his legs and bent over like she was going to kiss him.

“Toni, stop this right now.” He pleaded, trying to push her away, but ruining it by laughing “You’re being ridiculous.”

“Come on, Bruce.” Toni insisted. “One little kiss won’t kill you.”

But Toni was wearing one of those pencil skirts that were tighter than anything that ever existed, so when she tried to take one more step forward, she lost balance and fell on Bruce and her knees almost ruined all of Bruce’s chances to ever have children.

“Damn skirt.” She mumbled.

Bruce, whose hands were on her waist trying to hold her up, started really laughing.

“It’s not funny!”

”Am I interrupting?”

Toni and Bruce, who didn’t hear the door opening, jumped and the billionaire almost fell to the ground. Bruce helped her to her feet, before getting up as well.

Cora was standing at the doorway, looking as unimpressed as always and Captain America, the one who had spoken, was beside her.

“How is it that you always manage to show up at the most embarrassing and inconvenient moments?” Toni wanted to know, because, well, it was true.

“I can come back later if I’m disrupting you.” Cora replied arching an eyebrow.

“No, that’s not what…” Toni stopped and took a breath “Whatever. How can I help you, Capsicle?” She asked Steve, but turned back to Cora before he could answer “And didn’t you say he was on the phone?” She accused.

“I called from the lobby, but because you ignored me once again, I decided to come up. Miss Myer had nothing to do with it.” Steve quickly defended Cora.

About the “once again” thing… If Toni had the ability of feeling actual shame, she probably would, but since she didn’t… “Hm.” was all she said.

Steve took a deep breath, as if asking heaven for help. He then looked at Toni with that serious expression he wore when he was going to act like a good boy.

“Are you okay, Toni?” He asked softly, actually worried. “I heard about the surgery.”

Toni’s hand went automatically to cover the spot where the reactor used to be. There was now only her smooth skin there, and she got reacquainted with low-cut tops.

“Oh, yeah. Everything’s fine.” She said, like it wasn’t a big deal. “The doctor who operated on me was a star, and the plastic surgeon was a god. You can’t even tell there used to be something here.” Steve opened his mouth to say something and Toni quickly stopped him. “Everything has been overall amazing, like always. My life is incredible.”

Bruce sent Toni a look which made it clear that he thought she was an idiot. The doctor walked up to Steve and offered him a hand. “How are you, Steve?” He asked politely.

Steve shook his hand and smiled at him. “Great. And you?”

“All good. What brings you by?”

“I decided to accept Toni’s offer. To move to the Tower.” He answered self-consciously, looking at Toni like he expected her to tell him he couldn’t stay.

She wanted to. She really did.

“Of course, of course.” Toni said, like it was no big deal. It was. “Why don’t you wait outside? I need to have a word with Bruce here, and then I’ll show you around.”

Steve looked from Toni to Bruce and then Toni again, but just nodded and left. Bruce and Toni stayed silent for a minute, and then…

“So, I imagine you’d love to take care of the Captain’s “not getting laid” problem.” Bruce stated.

Toni narrowed her eyes. She must be a terrible influence, because the longer they spent together, the sassier he got. He had an acid, sometimes dark sense of humor that was always amusing to her. Except at that particular moment.

“Shut up, Bruce.” Toni muttered.

Bruce seemed to be analyzing Toni attentively, more than she felt like she deserved at the moment. Suddenly, the scientist stood straighter, his eyes carried a mischievous glint.

Crap. When Bruce got like that, it meant he had a plan and Toni would get in trouble.

“Let’s make a deal.” He proposed very seriously. “I’ll ask her out if you sleep with me.”

Whatever Toni was expecting, that wasn’t it. Her face must have made that very clear. “What?!”

“You heard me.” He repeated calmly. “I’ll ask Cora out if you have sex with me first.”

Toni opened her mouth to speak. Then she closed it. And then opened it again. Then closed it once more. And then she crossed her arms in front of her chest. “You think I won’t?” She inquired petulantly.  
“Why do you think I’m asking?” He answered his demeanor perfectly neutral. Like they were talking about fucking the weather!

“You know… I would, but…” She started, raising her chin and ignoring how hard it was to complete a sentence. “I don’t think that’d be cool. Cora deserves better.”

“Really?” Bruce asked, his tone leaving no doubt that he didn’t believe a word of what she said.

“What? You don’t think I would? Because I’d totally have sex with you. Right now, even. You want to do it on my desk?”

Bruce rolled his eyes. “Toni, be honest.”

“I’m serious!” She protested. “Should I start taking my clothes off?” She asked her hands on her shirt.

“Toni…” Bruce started with a serious expression that made him look like a teacher. “Why don’t you just admit that you aren’t interested in anyone because you want…”

“Shh!” Toni basically tackled him and covered his mouth with her hands. “Don’t say it! Don’t say that name, or I swear to God…”

Bruce rolled his eyes again and took her hands off of his mouth. “Ask him out, Toni. It won’t kill you.” He admonished.

“Yeah, but why risk it?” The billionaire replied, backing away from him. “Besides, the good Captain wouldn’t touch me with a ten foot pole.”

The last part was supposed to be muttered to herself, but Bruce heard it. Toni wasn’t usually like that, so… dejected. He opened his mouth to say something, but she was already leaving the room.

“Come on, Capsicle, I have other places to be.” She stated, standing in front of Steve. “Cora, come with. You and I need to have a little chat.”

“Actually, I need Cora’s help with something.” Bruce interjected.

Toni arched an eyebrow. “Does it have to be now?”

“Yes.” Bruce answered.

She narrowed her eyes and wished, not for the first time, that she could shoot lasers from them. 

Cora looked from one to the other and stepped towards Bruce. “I’ll go up as soon as I’m done here.” She said calmly.

“You’d better.” Tony warned “Jarvis! The elevator.”

The doors to Toni’s private elevators opened and she stepped inside, being quickly followed by Steve. She definitely didn’t like the smile she saw on Bruce’s face before the doors closed.

“Don’t get angry with Miss Myers. I really invaded your office.” Steve said quickly.

“I don’t believe it at all. But I wasn’t planning on being angry with Cora; just don’t let her know that.”

Steve realized, as soon as the doors closed, that Toni had every intention of ignoring him. She seemed to be in one of those moods and he had the distinct impression that it was his fault. Had he really interrupted something between her and Bruce?

Steve had been dreading his reunion with Toni for almost a year now. Right after the Battle of New York he went on “vacation” and decided to rediscover the United States. He needed some time to accept that things had changed and the world wasn’t how he remembered it anymore.

He had been travelling for around two weeks when he saw on the news that Toni Stark had donated money –a whole lot of it – to help rebuild New York. Besides this the billionaire was organizing a ball to help raise more money for the city. The news boasted that the Avengers would be there.

Steve, who was at a diner in the middle of nowhere, called Natasha immediately and asked if he should go back to be in that ball.

Natasha’s words were “Don’t you dare”. The red head explained to Steve that he needed that time out. He needed to accept that time had gone by, had to let some things go and understand that the past couldn’t be changed. He needed a chance to grieve.

The Captain accepted it all with a heavy heart, knowing it was the truth.

In the week after the party people hardly spoke of anything else. He knew he shouldn’t but Steve ended buying one of those celebrity magazines to see the pictures. Many famous people –none of which he could recognize –and important politicians and businesspeople came as well. Three senators from the New York state refused to attend, blaming the Avengers for all that happened. There was also a protest in front of the building, but it was a peaceful one.

Then he saw the pictures.

Natasha was wearing a navy blue dress with a slit that came all the way to her thigh, her arm linked with Clint’s, who wore a grey suit. Pepper looked stunning on her pictures, wearing a white dress that made her look like one of the divas from the 20’s. Her date was a man in a military uniform; his name was Colonel James Rhodes –according to the capitation.

Toni was…

Wow.

Toni wasn’t what people would call a classic beauty. No, her face was too strong for that. She had something else, it was the way she carried herself, a power and an energy that belonged only to her and it seemed to shine through the pictures.

She was wearing a long red dress – should he be surprised by the color? – The neckline showing very little, just a glimpse of the arc reactor on her chest. But the next picture –one of her climbing stairs – showed how deceptive that dress was. The back of it was non-existent, showing nothing but glorious skin.

The pictures after that one showed Toni on Bruce’s arm making Steve wonder –not for the first time –if they were together. They seemed close enough and the magazines were asking the same question. Especially since Toni and Pepper broke up the billionaire had been going stag to all parties.

Steve didn’t like the idea of Toni being with Bruce. Then he felt stupid for not liking it. He had no reason to.

He tried to put all this behind him and continue his trip. He traveled the country for four months, and then took a very serious decision: bought a ticket to England. He needed to see Peggy.

During all the time he was awake after the New York Battle, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s therapists tried to convince him to go and talk to Peggy, as a way to get closure on this part of his life. But how could he “close” something? This part of his life wasn’t forgotten just because he slept for 70 years! It was ridiculous that they would expect him to act as if it was.

Steve refused to even think on the possibility of talking to Peggy for a long time. Finally he realized he was being unfair with her as well. Peggy had a right to know what happened, that he was there and he had not forgotten her.

The retirement home she was in was very peaceful. The nurse he talked to told him that Peggy was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, sometimes she would “forget” exactly where she was.

Back in the day, Steve had heard about Alzheimer’s disease, but not a great deal. He could recall few things about it, mostly that affected old people and was very similar to dementia. He felt sick on his stomach.

But, to the nurse and his complete shock, Peggy remembered him. Sort of. For her it was like not one single day had passed and they were back on the base, waiting for the next attack on a H.Y.D.R.A. base.

That was actually worse than not being remembered might be. Seeing that face, full of wrinkles that told stories of a life where so much happened and not being able to heart the stories made his heart ache. Peggy had lived a full life and her memory couldn’t record half of it.

In the end he prolonged his stay on Winchester and visited Peggy every single day. On the sixth he found her completely lucid.

He didn’t think it was possible, but it was worse than before.

Peggy cried upon seeing him. They talked for hours until she started becoming tired and confused with the words and ideas.

Three days later she died while sleeping.

It was the first time since waking up that Steve cried, really cried.

Now he was back to New York, back to see Toni –even if he wouldn’t say it out loud – and he refused to remain silent. The doors of the elevator opened and she was preparing to leave first.

“Let’s go this way. So, on the top floors…”

“Toni.” He blocked her way, leaving both of them still inside the elevator, though the doors were open. “I just wanted to say that it’s good to see that you are okay. Better.” He corrected himself upon seeing her eyebrow rising. “Well, you know. I heard about what happened on Christmas, the surgery and everything else… And, you look good. Your hair looks good. You look… Good.”

Seriously? That’s the best he could do? He couldn’t sound more like an insecure teenager if he tried. By Toni’s face it was easy to see she was quite unimpressed. Maybe he shouldn’t have talked about the hair, but it really looked great!

“I feel… Good.” She said and Steve noticed that her hesitation on the use of the word was different from his. “Thanks.”

She made as if to leave the elevator, but Steve didn’t give her space. The doors were still open and he supposed they would remain that way for as long as necessary. Though… If they closed it would be easier to have this conversation, especially because he had the feeling that Toni would like nothing more than run away.

“I’ve heard about what happened.” He said firmly, making her look at him. “About everything that really happened. I was in mission in a place I can’t discuss when I heard that you were dead because someone bombed your house at Malibu.” The tight feeling on his chest when he heard that had no sane explanation. “I heard about it and I begged Fury to let me come back and figure out what was happening, but he wouldn’t let me. Told me to stay and finish my mission. And after that you wouldn’t talk to me.”

He knew he sound frustrated, but that was because he was fucking frustrated with her. “I don’t know what I’ve done. I know that I annoy you, even without knowing exactly why I do, but I really needed to know how you were. And you don’t answer the phone when I call so…” He sighed tiredly, losing his steam. “How are you?”

For the first time since he met her, Toni seemed to really reflect before answering the question, like she had the intention of telling the truth. Maybe exactly because of that, hearing her lie disappointed Steve so much.

“I am fine, Steve. Good. Don’t worry about me.”

Even her smile was weak and Steve felt that, in great part, it was due being too tired. But obviously she gave him no time to think about it. She was already pushing him to the side, moving, talking.

“This is the communal area.” She said, opening her arms to show the room. “Everybody has access. And by ‘everybody’ I mean me, Bruce, Pepper, Cora and now you. There is a fully equipped kitchen, something of a cinema and a snooker table. I guess here’s where we’re supposed to socialize.”

“Natasha and Clint haven’t moved in yet?” He was confused. Natasha had been the moving force behind his coming to the Tower. So much, he was sure she was living there already.

“Not yet.” Toni said. “But I guess, since you’re here it’s a question of time until Itsy Bitsy Spider and Tweety move in too.”

“Does Miss Myers leave here?”

“No. She says she already has to put up with me for too many straight hours to willingly live with me.” Toni said with a smile that showed she actually liked the attitude. “Above us there are 10 floors of labs and my floor. Your apartment is on the floor below this one, you share the floor with Pepper. Below you are the super spy couple and below them Bruce and Thor, in case Point Break ever decides to come back.”

“Bruce doesn’t live with you?” Steve asked before he could stop himself.

Toni looked at him like she thought he was particularly slow “Why would he?” Then she started walking before Steve could say anything. “Now come so I can show you the gym and a couple of other floors. Have you already been introduced to Jarvis?”

“The British voice that comes out of your ceiling?” Steve asked.

“I prefer the term ‘Artificial Intelligence that control the life of you all’, Captain Rogers. But British Voice works as well.” The aforementioned voice said dryly.

“Jarvis is the most sensitive computer I’ve ever seen.” Toni rolled her eyes. “But both of you are correct: he does have an accent, speaks from the ceiling and control everything that happens here. If you need to find something, to research something, download songs illegally or find good porn on the internet, he can do it for you.”

Steve chose to ignore her.

“Which kind of reminds me…” She snapped her fingers, entering in the elevator that waited for them “We have another dinner for charity this week. Nat and Clint aren’t coming, but Pepper and Bruce will be there with me. Can you come?”

Steve was surprised by the invitation, mostly because it was the first time he heard anything about it. “Sure. I’ll be there. But I don’t think I have anything to wear.”

“Talk to Cora.” Toni shrugged, after pressing the bottom for a floor. “I’m sure she can find you something. She is annoyingly efficient. I spent three months trying to find a good reason to fire her, before giving up. At least she looks great on pencil skirts and I can watch every time she has to bend.”

Steve decided to ignore that too. Most of the time he thought that Toni said those kinds of things just to annoy him, but he rather not find out if it was the case.

They were going to solve this. Toni and him, along the rest of the Avengers, were a team and they had to come to an understanding, even if they didn’t like each other all that much. And he knew what was his problem with Toni –she had no regard for rules, no respect for authority, she was too arrogant – he didn’t know what her problem with him was. If they were to get along they had to fix this.

There was this little voice inside his head that was warning him: if he ever got the nerve to ask Toni why she didn’t like him, he would regret it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here it is...
> 
> I decided to start on the end of Iron Man 3, after the whole Killian thing was done. Also I added ten years to Toni's birth date.
> 
> Hope you like it, hope it wasn't to bad to read XP I promise to fix this soon.
> 
> So, I may have a new thing coming up next week... Let's see how it goes. Did any of you watch "Kingsman" and loved just like I did? hahaha
> 
> Xoxo


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG! It's been a long time since I last posted here. I am really sorry for all the delay.
> 
> I finished this and came to post, so it's not beta read and probably looks a bit dreadful. I already sent it to my beta, but for now... I hope you can read it.
> 
> We have a very special guest in this chapter. Prepare to have your mind blown! hahaha
> 
> Thank you all for the kudos and the support. I really appreciate it.

Toni left Steve at his apartment and pressed the button to call the elevator. When the door opened she came face to face with Cora. She didn’t even let the other woman get out of the elevator, just pushed her to stay there and pressed the button that would take both of them to the labs.

 

“Cora, you’re one of my favorite assistants ever –which is not little feat considering that you only loose to Pepper and the Black Widow and you are _the only one_ I’ve never slept with.” Toni said seriously. “But you pull a stunt like this again and  I will fire you.”

 

For the first time since Cora started working for Toni the other woman actually looked chastised. “I’m really sorry, Miss Stark.” She said and it seemed sincere. “I was just following Miss Potts orders.”

 

Toni arched a brow. “Say what?”

 

“She said, and I quote: ‘if the Captain ever grows the balls to knock on our door, you will take him to see Toni immediately, unless she specifically tells you she doesn’t want to see him’.” It was kind of funny to see her talking. Toni felt she could see the quotation marks on her words. “You never said you didn’t want to see the Captain, just that you wouldn’t answer the phone.”

 

Toni was hardly left speechless, but this time she didn’t even know where to start arguing with Cora. So she ignored the less relevant part of the problem –Pepper planning something related to the Captain behind her back –and focused in something else. “Since when do you take orders from Pepper? You work for me.”

 

Now Cora seemed really uncomfortable. “Well, mostly you are my boss.” Cora ignored Toni’s outrage upon the “mostly” bit. “But in my contract as a S.I. employee it’s specified that Miss Potts can give me orders and I have to follow them, unless you specifically tell me not to.”

 

“Jarvis, stop the elevator.” Toni ordered brusquely.

 

The elevator stopped on the next floor and the doors opened. Toni felt betrayed. How could Pepper do that to her? Suddenly Cora didn’t feel like an assistant, but a babysitter! It even made sense why Pepper insisted that Toni needed her. How long had Cora been receiving orders from Pepper, without Toni’s knowledge?

 

“Out, Cora.” She said.

 

“Miss Stark…” Cora started saying, but she was obeying and leaving the elevator.

 

“I’ no going to fire you, because I understand it’s not your doing.” Toni said curtly. “But in one hour I want a list of everything you’ve done under Pepper’s order that relate to me in this last year. You are, from now on, forbidden to do anything she tells you before speaking to me first. And don’t you dare speak to her of this, before I have the chance.

 

Cora just nodded, now a bit scared.

 

“Jarvis, let’s go to my floor.” Toni ordered. “I intend to get drunk.”

 

The elevator’s door closed.

 

XxX

 

_Three days later..._

Toni hated fighting with Pepper. Truly. It was one of the things that made the billionaire wish to drown herself in a bottle of whisky. Burt, despite that, it was exactly what happened after she talked to Cora.

 

Toni spent the afternoon drinking and trying to calm herself. It hadn’t worked one bit. When she called Pepper and told her to come to the Tower she knew it wouldn’t end well.

 

It didn’t. Especially after Toni saw the list of things Pepper had given to Cora. This time Toni wasn’t angry about the smaller things –like mixing water in her whisky, because she could damn well recognize the taste of tainted alcohol – but she got very pissed about the filter that Cora had been using to show her things: news, companies reports, gossip, even fucking party invitations!

 

Pepper argued that she was worried about Toni after what happened in New York plus the whole “Mandarin” debacle and just wanted to protect her.

 

And yeah, right, she knew it hadn’t been easy. She still couldn’t sleep very well and all those suits that had gone up in the air were mostly rebuilt by now. She knew she had gone back to drinking a bit too much, but this time she was getting better! Moving to New York had actually helped, Bruce was helping, and even Cora was!

 

In the end they fought, as they hadn’t in a long time and Pepper finally concede that the she might have overreacted. Toni didn’t like the “might”, but she accepted it. She also made the redhead write a new contract for Cora, right in front of her, specifying that the woman could only take orders from Toni from now on.

 

Toni and Pepper still weren’t on speaking terms. Maybe that was today’s party seemed to suck so badly. It was another beneficent ball for the city and the repairs that still needed to be made. This time Natasha and Clint couldn’t come, because they were in a mission in some other country, but Bruce was adorable in a suit and Steve looked down right yummy. But Toni was feeling so low she couldn’t even appreciate it was she normally would.

 

She was trying to stop herself from drinking anything else. She had already had two glasses at home and another two here. She wouldn’t screw an important day like today.

 

“Are you okay, Stark?” Steve asked, coming to stand beside her.

 

“Just peachy, Cap.” She replied abusing the sarcasm. “Actually, the only way to make this better was if I could really get drunk right now.”

 

At least her dress was amazing. Cora –who was a genius when it came to clothes – had found her this dress that was nude with red flowers. What she liked the best about it was that it was kind of see through and when the light hit it in the right angle she could see the contours of her legs. Sexy, but not over the top. Who would’ve thought?

 

Steve was still there looking worried, though. “What happened?”

 

“I had a fight with Pepper.” She admitted, because it wasn’t a secret.

 

“You’re really close, right?” He said.

 

“Well, Pepper is actually the first person that I truly loved above myself and everything else.” Toni said suddenly even though she didn’t think she should be telling Steve those things. “We tried to be together, but it didn’t work. Don’t take me wrong, the sex was amazing and all the other things were as well, but… I don’t know. It just didn’t work out. Pepper is the kind of woman that wants to get married, have that freaking house with the picket fence and 2.3 kids. Kinda like you.”

 

Steve seemed to be about to comment, but Toni didn’t let him. “I don’t. I don’t like children and don’t want to have any. I don’t see the need in marrying. Besides…” She sighed. “Pepper never liked having to deal with the whole ‘saving the world and almost dying every other weekend’ part of our relationship.”

 

That Steve could understand. It probably wasn’t easy for a civilian to understand what they had to do.

 

“I’m… Sorry.” Steve said and Toni wanted to slap him just for the sincerity in his voice.

 

“Yeah, we’re over, but Pepper is still one of my favorite people.” She said. “Which really makes me even more annoyed by the fact that she still isn’t talking to Coulson.”

 

“Agent Coulson?” Steve was confused. “Is that why you two fought?”

 

“No, no!” She denied, but didn’t explain the reason they actually fought. “She still isn’t talking to him, even though she wants to. Pepper thinks she has to be on my side, against S.H.I.E.L.D., but the truth is, I want to see her happy and I think he can make her.”

 

“You know…” Steve started hesitantly. “I think he wants to talk to her, but doesn’t know how. Yesterday he called me, saying he was just checking up on me, but two minutes in, he started asking about her.”

 

“Oh god.” She rolled her eyes. “That’s pathetic. I’ll have to talk to Phil. Man to man.”

 

Steve arched a brow.

 

“What? Somebody has to fix this and make sure that Phil’s intentions are only kind of honorable.”

 

Steve threw his head back and laughed in a way Toni had never seen before. Geez, what the fuck had they out in that serum they gave him? Super-yumminess?

 

“You are a piece of work, Stark.” He said still laughing.

 

“Call me, Toni, Cap.” She asked. “Every time you say ‘Stark’ I keep waiting for a scolding.”

 

Steve’s smile was the kind that lit up the room. “Only if you start calling me Steve.”

 

“Deal. Now I need to find…” Her eyes turned to the entrance where some kind of commotion was going on. Finally the paparazzi opened some space and a man came through them. “Son of a bitch.” Toni murmured in shock.

 

“Do you know who that guy is?” Steve asked, but Toni was already walking on the mysterious man direction.

 

When he saw her getting closer the man let his eyes slid down her figure without an ounce of shame. A smirk appeared on his face. “Antonella Stark.” He seemed to savor the name.

 

Toni offered her hand with a malicious smile on her face. “Bruce Wayne.”

 

Wayne had a predatory smile on his face, like he was getting ready to jump his prey. He caught her hand and brought Toni closer to him. Without taking his eyes from her he dropped a kiss to the back of her hand, before turning it and dropping a kiss to her wrist.

 

“Behave, Wayne. We are in public.” Toni said, but her voice had no reproach in it.

 

“Why do you think I haven’t properly kissed you yet?”

 

“Wow, someone is feeling frisky today. What are you doing here, so far from Gotham?”

 

“I had a business meeting in Chicago, but it was canceled at the last minute. I already had the plane ready to go, suitcases packed… I remembered this party of yours. Seemed like a good idea.”

 

“How generous of you to grace us with your presence.” Toni said just a bit sarcastically.

 

“You haven’t seen anything yet, Antonella.” His smile was promising the best kind of mischief. “Let’s dance?”

 

“Let’s.” She agreed gracefully. “That way you can tell me what you’ve been up to and where are you taking me in exactly one hour.”

 

Bruce laughed and put one of his arms around her waist, pulling Toni with him to the dance floor.

 

XxX

 

“Oh no…”

 

Steve nearly jumped when Pepper spoke by his side. He hadn’t heard her coming to stand by him, most likely because he hadn’t been able to take his eyes of Toni and whoever that guy was.

 

“Who is he?” He asked.

 

“Bruce Wayne.” Pepper said morosely. “Gotham’s multi billionaire playboy and...” She looked around and lowered her voice. “The Batman.”

 

Steve was quite surprised. He had read about this Batman character. S.H.I.E.L.D. had provided him with a list of names of possible allies/threats and that guy was one of them. Though the document didn’t have his real name.

 

Steve watched them once again and saw Wayne twirl Toni around, making her laugh. “Where do they know each other from?” He asked grumpily.

 

“Some kind of society party, I figure.” Pepper said eyes on the dancing couple. “The first time they dated was a bit after I started working for her. She hadn’t become the Iron Lady yet, but he already was… Anyway. They had one of those crazy romantic stories that lasted all of three months. Some time passed, she made the first suit, and they crossed paths again and disappeared together for two weeks. Then the same thing happed the following year and once again when we broke up.” She huffed. “The way things area round here she is going to leave with him again.

 

“Do you think they…” Steve paused to weight his words carefully before saying them. “Do they love each other?”

 

“No way.” Pepper rolled her eyes. “I know they keep in touch and have some kind of deal regarding the whole ‘saving the world businesses. I’m under the impression that they agree that New York is Toni’s and Gotham is Bruce’s and that’s it. Aside from that, I think she likes him for the same reason she liked many before him: for fun.”

 

By the smile on Toni’s face… It had to be lots of fun.

 

XxX

 

Toni rolled her eyes, but let Bruce twirl her one more time, before putting her hands firmly on his shoulders. She didn’t like dancing and enjoyed the acrobatics in it even less. Two things that Wayne was well aware of. He was laughing without an ounce of regret.

 

“You have no romantic in you, Antonella.” He teased, pulling her closer and starting to dance more calmly.

 

“I also hate being called Antonella.” She grumbled. “You are the only one I let get away with it, because you are very good with orgasms.”

 

Bruce laughed once again. “That’s why I like you, Antonella. You say whatever you want, treat me like a normal person, make me laugh and you are also very good with orgasms.”

 

“Very good?” She arched a brow. “Darling, I should be considered the Goddess of Sex and people should make pilgrimages to see me.”

 

Bruce chuckled, his eyes shining with mirth. “You are unbelievable.”

 

“Yeah, enough chit-chat for you, Wayne?” Her voice was firm, but not cruel or without care. “Why are you here?”

 

Bruce sighed a bit aggravated. “You are terrible, Toni. I read what happened to you. I know it was a while ago. I wanted to give you time to recover, but I wanted to see you.”

 

Toni threw Bruce a concerned look. “What’s going on?”

 

“Did you hear about what happened in Gotham last year?” He asked serious.

 

Who hadn’t? It was a bit before everything that happened between Toni and that son of a bitch, Killian. Actually before the whole thing went boom –before Toni buying Pepper a gigantic bunny –she was planning on going to Gotham to see Bruce. She worried about him more than she worried about most people.

 

“About that guy they called Joker and the District Attorney that died? Yes, I heard.”

 

“It was way worse than what they said on TV.” He admitted.

 

Are you truly being held responsible?”

 

“Yes, but that’s not even important.” He said tiredly. “I just… I realized how quickly things can be taken from me. That becoming what I did wouldn’t magically prevent it. And then I thought of you and wanted to see you.”

 

“How cute, Wayne.” Toni said, but then regretted it. It wasn’t funny. It was fucking sad. “I almost went to Gotham when I saw the news, but you didn’t return my calls. I was almost going anyway when the whole Mandarin thing happened.”

 

“When I read that you had died…” Bruce’s hand on her waist flexed, pulling her closer. “I didn’t know what to do. Rachel also died and…”

 

“Please.” Toni stopped him, her eyes serious now. “Let’s not talk about that.”

 

Bruce took a deep breath. “OK.” He managed a smile. “What do you want to talk about?”

 

Toni’s smile was full of mischief. “Why don’t we give the tabloids something naughty to talk about?”

 

Bruce laughed before dipping Toni and kissing her in front of everybody.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Bruce Wayne... I beet you didn't expect THAT!
> 
> lol
> 
> If you would put it somewhere in a timeline Bruce's presence here would be a bit after what happened in "The Dark Knight", but with Rachel not being that much of a problem...
> 
> Hope you like it.
> 
> I will have more "Gentle Lady" by Friday and hopefully more "What if" by Saturday.
> 
> xoxo


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear Lord, this took so long!!!
> 
> I am so sorry, but I am translating this so it takes double the time...
> 
> TRIGGER ALARM! So Toni and Natasha will talk briefly about rape in this chapter. I'm not sure it is enough for a trigger alarm, but I rather let you decide for yourselves and cover the bases. It's just talk, nothing graphic will happen.
> 
> Also, because I am translating and it took me so long I am posting this without being beta-read. So get ready for many prepositions in the wrong place and who knows what else. I hope that most of it is not too bad and that you can understand it. As soon as it's beta-ed I'll repost it.
> 
> Now, without further ado... Bruce Wayne, people!

Toni opened her eyes slowly and noticed it was still night. The room was dark, which was so not a problem since that way she could admire Bruce’s silhouette against the window.

 

Bruce was staying in of those ridiculously expensive hotels of New York –penthouse, of course. The room had glass windows from the ground to the ceiling and the city view was gorgeous. In this exact moment Bruce was staring out the window, eyes on the Stark Tower. Totally naked.

 

 

She stayed where she was, lying down and watching Bruce, letting her eyes take his back. His body was full of scars and Toni had kissed every single one of them when they entered the room, just before she pushed him against the wall and dropped to her knees.

 

They never talked about this aspect of their lives. They both knew about each other –OK, the whole world knew about her and Toni had hacked his security system and kind of found out about the whole Batman thing –but they tried not to get involved. They had agreed to not interfere, unless the other actually asked for help. Toni had Bruce’s number saved and almost called him a couple of times, but in the end she never actually did it.

 

Some things shouldn’t get mixed.

 

“I’m feeling a bit objectified by the way you’re staring at me.” Bruce drawled, without turning from the window.

 

“Darling, it’s not my fault you’re a piece of prime steak.” Toni quipped stretching.

 

Bruce laughed and made a gesture for her to come closer. Toni stretched once again, before getting up from the bed with no clothes at all.

 

Some women had the weird habit of covering themselves post-coitus –Pepper was one of them. Toni had none of these problems, because if her body was good enough for a roll in the hay, it sure as hell was good enough to go around naked.

 

Bruce pulled her close and pushed her against the glass. “You cut your hair.” He observed, touching her bangs.

 

Toni rolled her eyes. “A while ago, Sherlock.”

 

Actually her hair had caught on fire when she was fighting the crazy lady on Tennessee and decided to blow the restaurant. Toni had liked the longer hair, but she would not deny that the new style –shoulder length –was pretty nice.

 

“You still look beautiful.” He said touching her chin.

 

“Okay, now you’re worrying me.” Toni said seriously. “You’re way too sweet.”

 

Bruce laughed, but it was humorless. “Everything that happened last year… No. Actually, everything that happened in those last years got me thinking. I’m not ‘super’ like some of the others. I’m –painfully –human. One of these days I’ll find someone that will hit way harder than I can take.” He sighed. “I already found this someone. He’s locked up in a cell, but I know it won’t hold him forever. I should have killed that…”

 

Toni’s hands cradled his face, but she didn’t say a thing. It was not like Bruce to talk about killing people. He was better than that.

 

“You know what I’m talking about.” He said after a second. “You must feel the same.”

 

“I haven’t slept much since New York.” She admitted. “What happened at Christmas didn’t help at all, but I’m very thankful that Killian isn’t around anymore.”

 

“Did he hurt you?” Bruce asked seriously, running his finger over Toni’s face.

 

“He did worse: he hurt Pepper.”

 

Bruce smirked a bit. “How is Miss Potts?” He wondered. “Still the light of your life?”

 

“She’ll always be the light of my life, one way or another.” Toni shrugged. “Unfortunately it didn’t work out.”

 

“Just like us.” Bruce put it out there. “I never wanted to love someone was much as I wanted to love you.”

 

Toni scoffed. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t. We’d never work out. Our kids would be born traumatized.”

 

“But they’d be gorgeous.” Bruce teased dropping a kiss to her shoulder.

 

“They’d try to take over the world.” Toni’s smirk was full of arrogance. “And they’d succeed.”

 

Bruce laughed again and gave Toni a long toe-curling kiss. One of those that had no pretension or lies in it, no hurry, and Toni knew –with a sudden clarity –that this would be the last time they would be together like this.

 

“Feeling a bit envious of my baby, Wayne?” She teased when they stopped kissing, her head indicating the Stark Tower.

 

Bruce arched a brow. “Have you seen my place?”

 

“Have you seen mine?” She countered. “And my housemates?”

 

“Of that I’m not even one bit envious.” He rolled his eyes. “I don’t even know how you put up with it.”

 

“Me neither.” She sighed resigned. “It’s just that my heart is way too good.”

 

Bruce Wayne actually started guffawing at that and Toni slapped him on the arm. “Hey! That’s a bit much!”

 

“Right. Sorry, but I wasn’t expecting that.” Bruce cleared his throat, his laughter stopping. “But I can pretend I believe in it.”

 

“Oh dear… OK, I let them live with me for the amount of eye candy it offers me.” She ruffed. “Is that better?”

 

“Way better.” Bruce conceded, some chuckles still coming out of his mouth “Talking about eye candy...” His hand slid down her back.

 

“I thought you’d want to talk the whole night.” Toni groaned dramatically.

 

Bruce kissed Toni once again, now with a very obvious purpose. His hand skittered to her ass, where he grabbed her and pulled her up, pressing the woman’s body against the glass window.

 

With only the lights from the Big Apple on them, Antonella had Bruce Wayne completely to herself. One last time.

 

XxX

 

Many people use the term “walk of shame” after a one night stand, that tense moment when you have to walk around in bright day light with last night clothes.

 

Toni Stark had never walked the walk of shame, because there was nothing to be ashamed of. Sex was not a bad thing, and no wannabe moralist would convince her otherwise. So, crossing the lobby of a five stars hotel, wearing Bruce’s white shirt and a pair of boxers and carrying her dress on her arm? Nothing wrong with that.

 

Don’t want to see it? Look the other way, bitches.

 

“Good morning, Alfred.” She smiled at Bruce’s super butler, who was waiting for her by the car, right in front of the hotel.

 

“Miss Stark.” He smiled at her, holding the door open.

 

Santa –seriously, the only thing missing for him to be Santa Claus was the beard –left Toni right in front of Stark Tower. She said goodbye and asked him to take good care of Bruce.

 

She decided to go up to the communal floor, because when Cora –that minx –wasn’t flirting with Bruce –which was all the time, he was the only that didn’t realize it –she made coffee and left some easy to eat stuff around –for Bruce.

 

But Karma was a nasty bitch and of course it wasn’t Cora or Bruce that were in the room. It was Steve.

 

And it could be seven o’clock, the morning after a party, but Steve was perfectly dressed in his grandpa clothes, whit his stupid hair combed. Jerk.

 

If he wasn’t so hot Toni might hate him

 

But he seemed pretty shocked to see her. “Toni. What are you doing here?”

 

“As far as I remember, I live here.” She replied, throwing her dress carelessly on a chair and kicking her shoes off.

 

“I know.” Steve assured her quickly, a bit embarrassed. “But Pepper seemed pretty sure that you’d run off with Wayne.”

 

“Nope.” She popped the “p”. “I’m here.” She looked around distractedly. “Where’s Cora?”

 

“I was under the impression that today was her off day.” Steve replied carefully.

 

“Shit. It is.” Toni huffed. “What are _you_ doing here?”

 

“Natasha called me yesterday, a little bit after you left the party.” He informed. “She’s moving in with Clint today. They should be here any minute now.”

 

“Finally.” Toni chimed. “I can barely wait to have the whole team in the house.”

 

Steve looked very surprised by this piece of information. “Why?” He wanted to know.

 

“Why not?” She threw back. “Holy fuck! I need coffee!” Toni fumed. “Do you have any idea where is the stuff in this kitchen?”

 

“You don’t?”

 

“Of course I don’t.” She said as if it was obvious. “Do I look like someone that spends time in the kitchen?”

 

Steve laughed and decided to make coffee for her –apparently Cora had taught him how to handle the coffeemaker. When Natasha and Clint finally arrived they were talking about the party from the night before, with Toni sitting on the counter and Steve by her.

 

“Greetings, Agent Romanoff!” She greeted cheerily. “And Legolas!”

 

Clint arched a brow. “Why is she the only one here that gets respect?”

 

“Because she’s the one that scares me.” Toni rolled her eyes.

 

Clint snickered, but his eyes seemed to be studying Toni carefully. “You have this look about you… You looked well fucked.” He declared, making Steve choke on his coffee.

 

“Wow, you really are a super spy, hm?” Toni drawled sarcastically. “I was well fucked, thank you very much.”

 

This time when Steve choked on his coffee, Natasha had to thump him on the back.

 

“By whom?” Clint asked curious.

 

“Bruce Wayne.” Toni sighed.

 

Natasha turned immediately to the billionaire and narrowed her eyes. “What? Since when did you resume your relationship with Wayne?”

 

“I’m not sure ‘resume’ is the appropriate word here… We’ve been on and off for a while.” Toni shrugged.

 

Natasha looked very shocked. “What do you mean ‘a while’? As far as S.H.I.E.L.D. knew you only dated once, years ago.”

 

“Well, then I’m not sorry to inform you that you guys know shit.” She declared, looking excessively pleased by the notion. “I only dated him once, but we had many other ‘meetings’ through the years, the most recent one being last night.”

 

Natasha arched a brow. “Even after Afghanistan?”

 

“Even after Pepper.” Toni informed, without really understanding what the deal with Natasha was.

 

“You do know that he wears a cape and horns, right?” Clint chimed in.

 

“Yeah, he doesn’t have my stylish sense of heroism, but that man looks edible on a suit.” Toni shrugged.

 

“So why don’t you two really date?” Steve asked, though he seemed to regret it right after.

 

“Because we don’t work as a couple.” Toni replied as if it was obvious. “Apart from the fact that we both have huge egos, I hate Gotham, he hates California and we both are completely fucked up and one would drive the other crazy. Bruce has a shitload of baggage related to his family and the things he’s done. I’m not even going to mention my family problems, ‘cause they’re quite obvious. We get married, we’d be doing therapy for the rest of our lives.

 

Natasha seemed to be thinking pretty hard about something. “I had no idea you still went out with men.”

 

“Why wouldn’t I?” Toni asked, legitimately surprised. “I love men. They tend to understand the concept of casual sex a whole lot easier than most women.”

 

Clint started laughing. “And here was I thinking you were abusing poor Banner.”

 

“Of course I’m not!” Tony exclaimed affronted. “Bruce will be –very soon –being abused by Cora and I don’t want things to be awkward.”

 

Clint was getting purple from laughing.

 

“You’re trying to match make Bruce with your P.A.?” Natasha asked.

 

“To be quite honest, she’s interested on him on her own. She even flirts with him and stuff.” Toni shrugged. “I’m just trying to convince Bruce to grow a pair and do something about it. Have you seen that woman? She looks like one of those super serious librarians that use sexy lingerie under her clothes. I love when she bends to pick up stuff.”

 

Clint fell to the ground, trying to breathe through his laughter.

 

“Toni… There’s only one thing missing on you for you to be a real pig of a man, because that head of yours…” Natasha rolled her eyes.

 

“You’re talking about a dick, right? ‘Cause I can’t think of anything else in a man that’s essential.”

 

Steve just hoped that eventually Clint would stop laughing and go back to breathing.

 

XxX

 

Toni wasn’t really surprised when, hours later, Natasha came to find her on her lab. The redhead had spent a good time observing Toni like she was a mystery and it was quite obvious she had something on her kind. Toni just wasn’t sure of what could possibly be.

 

She seemed a bit bothered by the whole Bruce Wayne story, though Toni didn’t understand why. Did S.H.I.E.L.D. have any problem with the Justice League? Not that she couldn’t understand it, because that name of theirs was ridiculous.

 

“Can I speak with you?” Natasha asked without preambles or pleasantries. “Can I make you a very personal question?”

 

Natasha was the kind of person that could you play like a freaking fiddle and you wouldn't even notice until you were in the middle of the symphony –look at Loki- but when she wanted to be direct she could do it, without on ounce of hesitance. But the fact that she chose that particular tact showed Toni this was serious to her.

 

“Sure.” Toni shrugged, dropping the screw driver back on its box, before grabbing pliers. “What’s up?”

 

“Were you raped in Afghanistan?”

 

The pliers fell from Toni’s hand. “No.” She answered curtly.

 

“Toni…”

 

“Fuck!” Toni thundered. “Pepper doesn’t believe me either.”

 

“Look into my eyes and say it and I’ll believe it.” Natasha ordered.

 

Toni stood completely still for one minute, then took a deep breath before turning to Natasha again. “No, Natasha.” She said looking inside the other woman’s eyes. “I wasn’t raped on Afghanistan.”

 

“But...” Natasha prodded gently, because she knew there was more.

 

“They threatened me with it many times.” Toni’s voice was full of hurt in a way that Natasha had never heard before. “Raza –their leader –used to tell me the only reason it hadn’t happened yet was because he needed me to build the missile, and that we women broke easily and I would be useless if I was just an empty carcass.” Her voice was filling with disgust. “But after it was done or if I failed…”

 

Toni sighed and sat on the floor, her eyes fixed on the wall. “Of all the things that have happened to me, Natasha, nothing –and I swear to you, nothing –ever scared me as much as this promise. The idea…” Her voice broke.

 

When the silence became too much, Natasha cleared her throat. “All this time, I read you wrong.” Natasha spoke softly. “I was absolutely sure something had happened. You came back and created two NGO’s to help women that suffered any kind of violence, refused therapy to deal with post-traumatic stress and didn’t get involved with men…”

 

“I did!” Toni protested. “You’re the ones that don’t know anything. It’s not my fault!”

 

“Nobody said it was, Toni.” Natasha said way more gently than Toni had ever heard her say anything, so she knew she was talking about something else.

 

“Did you know that many women don’t press charges in cases of rape because they feel somewhat at fault for what happened?” Toni’s eyes finally met Natasha’s again. “How many of them do you think had to listen that it was their fault, because of their clothes, their attitude or even the way they laughed? They never touched me, Natasha, but the horror of the possibility kept me awake most nights. I can’t imagine what it’s living with the reality of it. I can’t even begin to imagine the strength this women need to carry on when the society puts the blame on them.”

 

“You wanted to help.”

 

“The only way I can.” Toni sighed. “Pepper also had her suspicions, but she still doesn’t believe me.”

 

“You refused counseling.” Natasha pointed out.

 

“Nothing a shrink could say would help.”

 

“You started drinking a lot more than before.”

 

“Tell me something I don’t know.” Toni rolled her eyes. “I’m stopping little by little, Natasha. I always drank too much.”

 

They both stayed silent for a bit.

 

“So...” Natasha started. “Bruce Wayne?”

 

Toni’s chuckle was rough, like she was trying very hard not to cry.

 

“He’s so cute, isn’t he?” The billionaire offered with a small smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bruce Wayne was the first of many cameos, there will be some others, but his was the biggest one.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Thank you so much for the kudos and comments.
> 
> Xoxo


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY HOLIDAYS! 
> 
> I decided to be very active this Christmas, since I plan on taking a bit of a break until after my birthday (January 10), so here's present to you all!
> 
> Once again I appreciate all the comments and kudos, they warm my heart.
> 
> I have to warn you all, this chapter has not been beta read and I have absolutely no idea of what you might find there...
> 
> I also want to say a big far thank you for my dear Susan Lecompte who translated this for me even though she speaks no Portuguese. You're an angel, Sue, as per usual!
> 
> Hope you enjoy it!

Toni wanted to have sex with Steve.

 

Ok, to be perfectly fair, who didn’t?  The guy was so hot he could make straight dudes doubt themselves.

 

But Toni did not care about this, because after all, she wanted him now.  Maybe it was not exactly a new wanting, but now she really decided to act on that desire.

 

To clarify “now” would be a few months after Steve moved to the Tower.  Time passed quickly when you lived with two spy-slash-assassins, a mad scientist and a super soldier.  Toni hardly saw the days go by.

 

They were called twice to save the world, and to talk to the Fantastic Four.  It didn’t work out very well. The meeting, because the world was properly saved.

 

Incidentally, Toni almost slept with the Human Torch (seriously a ridiculous name!  He was lucky to be hot).  In the end, it did not happen, only because Johnny looked a bit too much like Steve.  In fact, it was almost scary how much.  Besides, Toni was not the type that slept with B to forget A, so… Yeah, no.

 

Of course Toni and Steve still fought a lot.  He was so annoying sometimes!  For the love of Jesus, the man couldn’t relax, and took everything way too seriously. Half the time they spent together had Toni wanting to hit his head against the wall, and the other half wanting to rip off his clothes.

 

Pepper still was not speaking to the Agent.  That was a problem. However Toni wasn’t in the mood to deal with feelings, so she wasn’t running interference anymore. The same went for Bruce and Cora.  If the girl was waiting for the doctor to take any action, she would wait forever.

 

Life was pretty boring until aliens entered London, wrecking Greenwich, and Thor appeared on TV.  Toni left a note on the fridge for the others, boarded her jet, and headed for London.

 

When she arrived in Greenwich, S.H.I.E.L.D. was already there, cleaning up the place and putting some weird huge monster/alien thing under arrest –apparently it had popped out from one the wholes. Phil was around with a team of puppies.

 

“Agent!” Toni spoke lively as she approached him.

 

“Oh my God!  It’s Toni Stark!” The girl next to Coulson muttered shocked.

 

“I know.  I am more absurdly beautiful in person right?”  She spoke without a shred of modesty.

 

Phil rolled his eyes. “Skye, I need to talk to Miss Stark.” He said to the girl.  “Why don’t you go look for Fitz-Simmons?”

 

Skye was still staring at Toni as if she was make-believe.  The billionaire winked at the girl making her blush.

 

“Okay, I’m going.”  She squeaked.

 

“She is cute…” Toni commented watching Skye walk away.  “I didn’t know you had a new team.”

 

“They decided to use more of my field experience.  I’ve been traveling the world with this team”.  Phil spoke with that blank expression that irritated Toni.

 

“Does that mean you got over Pepper?”  She wanted to know.  “If you say yes, I’m gonna have to slap you.

 

Phil looked from side to side, not wanting anyone to hear what he was about to tell her and Toni started to consider that slap very seriously. “I tried to talk to her for a week after what happened in New York.”  Phil finally admitted.  “She wouldn’t answer my calls or she’d give me an excuse to hang up soon.  I decided to give her some space.  I still call once a month, but she’s still avoiding me.”

 

Oh, how sweet. Toni was considering pinching the agent’s cheeks.  This was cute. Pepper was so slow and this situation needed to be resolved or Toni would never be an aunt.

 

“Agent, I’ll tell you this only once.” She spoke seriously.  “Honour this suit of yours and go to the Stark Tower.  Jarvis will let you in.  Go up to Pepper’s floor, knock on the door, and when she opens, do not waste time talking.  Grab the girl and kiss the hell out of her.  Do us all a favor!”

 

Phil raised an eyebrow. “Miss Stark….”

 

“I am serious.” She insisted.  “Pepper thinks she has to be on my side because I broke up with Fury.  However I kinda like you.  Don’t know why, since you only have one facial expression.” She shrugged. “Needless to say, you hurt Pepper, I kill you.”

 

The left corner of Phil’s mouth lifted minimally.  Toni thought that this was his version of a smile. “I’ll be in New York in two weeks.”  Was all he said.

 

“What a coincidence!” Toni spoke.  “Pepper will be there too!”

 

Phil shook his head, but that lip cornered up a little more. “What are you doing here, Stark?”  He questioned finally.

 

“I learned that my favorite god was here, and I’ve come to take him home.” She replied.

 

“You are too late.”  Phil said.  “He has since returned to Asgard.  I talked to Dr. Foster, and she said he promised to return soon.”

 

“How about you give me Foster’s address?  I imagine that this is his girl.”

 

“I’ve sent it to your mobile phone.”  Phil said.  “But you didn’t get it from me.”

 

Holy fuck! What time did he do that? He must really be a ninja.

 

“What text?”  Toni asked frowning in fake confusion, but holding a smile.

 

Phil narrowed his eyes.

 

“You’re leaving, right?”  He asked dryly.

 

“Oh! So mean!”

 

“Agent Coulson?”

 

Toni and Coulson turned to the man who approached them.  The billionaire, who had been wearing sunglasses until, then finally got rid of them.

 

“This one I’m taking home, Coulson.”  She said looking at the other man up and down.

 

“Stark…”  Phil called in a warning tone.

 

“What’s your name, dear?”  She asked, ignoring Coulson.

 

The agent looked from her to Coulson, and his stance became more erect than before.  Not that Toni was complaining, because the shoulders and chest on this guy were amazing.

 

“Agent Ward, Miss Stark.” He said seriously.

“Well, Ward dearest, one of these days, if you find yourself wondering around New York without destination, you get that cute pie called Skye –who is still looking over here –and give me a call.” She took a business card out of her purse and put it in his jacket pocket. “I’ll show you two how big my bed is.”

 

Ward seemed shocked beyond words and even Phil had his eyes rounded.

 

“See you later, alligators.”

 

XxX

 

When Toni knocked on Jane Foster’s door who answered it was a boy called Ian –he said he was the intern of the intern. The boy stood some minutes just staring incredulously at Toni, without saying one word.  She understood it, her beauty and amazingness had this effect on people.

 

When Ian, the intern’s intern, finally managed to talk again he informed Toni that only Dr. Selvig was in at the moment, but the older scientist was locked on his room writing theories on the wall.

 

Toni decided not to interrupt in such a beautiful endeavour, so she left a business card with Ian and asked him to tell Thor to call as soon as he was back. Thor, not Foster.

 

At first she wasn’t sure how long she was willing to sit around and wait, but eventually decided to stick around for a week.

 

She went to an Elton John concert, was photographed with a Victoria’s Secret Angel –nothing happened, she swore –closed a whole night club for herself and bumped on Prince Harry in another. All and all, two mundane days.

 

On her third day waiting her phone finally rang. “Stark speaking.”

 

_“Can she truly listen to me through this machine? What type of sorcery is this?”_

Toni chuckled upon hearing Thor’s voice, obviously speaking to someone else, not her. Whoever was by his side spoke lower, then…

 

 _“Lady of Metal?”_ His tone was doubtful.

 

“Hey, Point Break.”

 

 _“By Asgard! It works! Jane, this machine works.”_ The blond celebrated –quite loudly –on the other side.

 

“Yeah, it works, and I’m not deaf.”  Toni said.  “All right there, Thor?”

 

“All is fine, Lady Stark.” His voice was full of wonder and fondness. “Ian told me you were here, looking for me?”

 

“Yes, sir, I was.”  Toni confirmed.  “I need to talk to you.”

 

“So come to Jane’s house!” he practically proclaimed.  “We shall have a feast and talk.”

 

“I’ll bring the drinks.” Toni said.

 

XxX

 

Toni bought three bottles of Jack Daniels to take to Jane’s house.  Some people would think it was stingy of her, but the truth was that the billionaire had a certain fondness for that particular brand.

 

When she was seventeen, Toni had what many American teenagers did: a fake I.D.  But instead of just doing this, she created a whole new identity and went to college.  For nearly a month, Elizabeth Adler was going to college parties, going to classes she could teach and enjoying life.  Until authorities discovered this, and a mess of astronomical proportions followed.  Obadiah, who at the time was her legal guardian, was furious.  But, it was worth it.

 

That’s when her affection for Jack Daniels began.  It was what she drank at parties with the others students.  So, it was for her a drink for friends; therefore it was what she was going to offer Thor.

 

The door was once again opened by Ian, the intern’s intern, and Toni was beginning to think he was the butler of the house.

 

Thor greeted her with a hug that lifted her off the ground. “Lady Stark!” he said, a huge smile on his face. “It’s good to see that all is well.”

 

“I say the same, buddy.  Your hair is longer.” She commented.

 

“Yours is shorter.”

 

“Long hair and fire is not a good match.”  She grimaced.  “I brought whiskey.”

 

Thor put Toni on the floor –yes, he had been carrying her until then –and grabbed the bag she had.

 

“Something is different.”  He mused as he watched her.  “Where is the magic circle which used to lie on your chest?”

 

“Long story and I need to be drunk to tell it.”

 

Thor seemed to finally remember that there were more people in the house.  In total there were four other human beings:  Ian, a skinny girl, a busty girl, and an older dude who was… Yep, without pants.

 

“Jane, let me introduce you to my shield sister, Lady Toni Stark.” Thor proclaimed –seriously, he sounded like he was proclaiming something most of the time. “Lady Stark, this is Jane Foster, a practitioner of the astrophysical arts.”

 

Toni chuckled and offered her hand to Jane. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Dr. Foster.”  Toni spoke sincerely.  “Your work is extremely interesting, and I would love to discuss the mechanics of it with you.”

 

“Wow!”  Jane looked shocked.  “Thank you.  It will be a pleasure, Miss Stark.”

 

“Just Toni, please.”  She turned to the others. “Ian, the intern’s intern, I already know.”  She said as she gave him thumbs up.  The boy (who apparently still hadn’t learned to speak in her presence) repeated the gesture.

 

“This is Lady Darcy Lewis.”  Thor introduced the other girl.  “She is the carrier of lightening.”  He ended with pride.

 

“I hit this guy with a taser.”  Darcy supplied, coming closer  “My God, I’d totally turn lesbian for you.” She said after finally letting go of Toni’s hand.

 

Jane looked shocked and Thor, confused. Darcy just sighed resigned. “My bad.  I don’t have a filter.” She said, as if she was used to speaking this way.

 

“Don’t worry.”  Toni shrugged.  “I tend to have that effect on people.  I am one size fits all, and everyone wants me.”

 

Darcy burst out laughing.

 

“Doctor Selvig.”  Toni looked at Erik.  “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.  Your notes were of great help last year.”

 

The man looked from one side to the other, like he was ready to run out any minute. “Thank you.”  He said softly.

 

“Erik hasn’t recovered from New York.”  Jane explained.  “The recent events didn’t help much.”

 

“You’re telling me.”  Toni sighed.  “The day I get back to sleep without being drunk, I’ll be a happier person.”

 

“Amen!”  Darcy grumbled.

 

“You bring news of our friends, Lady Stark?”  Thor asked.

 

“Yes, big guy.  We need to talk business.”

 

XxX

 

Apparently it’s impossible to get a Nordic God drunk with peasant alcohol; even if Toni and Darcy had tried their best, but Thor drank both under the table.  All things considered, Jane was absurdly patient.

 

Of course, it was not only drinking that went down that night.  Toni and Thor also exchanged a quick summary of what happened in recent times.  The big teddy bear became very interested in the Tower in New York.

 

Two days later, Toni managed to get Thor, Jane and Darcy on a plane bound for the US.  Erik was still unwilling to return to the Big Apple, and Ian was still studying and couldn’t leave. Actually, Toni was thinking it was a lame excuse and the boy was just scared.

 

She never thought that getting all the Avengers to live with her could be this much fun.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked!
> 
> So we reached Thor 2 and we're just going to go through it. You can also see that Phil is rocking his Agents of SHIELD show. And even though (SPOILER ALERT) Ward turned out to be an asshole and a bad guy he is hot and I'm pretty sure Toni would appreciate it... hahaha
> 
> I wish you all Happy Holidays. It doesn't matter what you celebrate in the end of the year, I just hoe it's full of love and you have the people that really matter with you.
> 
> See you all next year!
> 
> xoxo


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY GOD, I AM SOOOOOO SORRY!!!
> 
> This took so long! Translating from one language to another is terrible! I hate it. It's different from the fanfics that I wrote in English. This was written in Portuguese (my native language) and translating has been torture. That's why it took me so long. Sorry once again.
> 
> And exactly because it took so long this was not beta-read and I have no idea what you may find if you venture reading it. Probably a whole lot of mistakes, so please, let me know.
> 
> Hope you enjoy it!

Toni felt the complete opposite of shocked when she got back to the Tower and found Steve passing back and forth on the communal floor. The man had worrying down to an art form.

 

Bruce, Cora and Pepper were also there, with no sing of the Wonder Twins.

 

“Oh, my faithful subjects wait for my return!” Toni declared upon leaving the elevator, arms open wide.

 

Steve threw her a glare, while Pepper and Cora just rolled her eyes.

 

“Why did you go alone to London?” Steve demanded. “You could have waited…”

 

“Chill out, Captain Bossypants.” Toni cut him without mercy. “I brought us new friends to play with.”

 

“Captain!” Thor boomed entering the room. “Doctor Banner!”

 

Proper introductions followed shortly after that. Toni could almost see the words forming on Darcy’s head when she was introduced to the Captain. Unfortunately Jane also could and drove her elbow into Darcy’s side before she could open her mouth.

 

Eventually the topic became rooms.

 

“Prince Thor’s apartment is ready and it’s on the same floor as doctor Banner’s. I can put Doctor Foster and Miss Darcy on the floor below.” Cora informed, eyes on her StarkPad.

 

Toni was arching a brow because of the whole “Prince Thor” thing, but she refrained from commenting. There’s a first time for everything.

 

“Lady Jane and I could share an apartment.” Thor commented.

 

Cora just shrugged, but Toni –who was paying attention – noticed Jane panicked look and decided to interfere. “Sorry, buddy, but I can’t allow you two to live in sin under my roof.”

 

All the eyes went to Toni immediately and Pepper looked like she was trying to figure out what the fuck Toni had smoked recently. Thor was the only one that seemed to be taking her words under some serious consideration.

 

“I can’t allow you to sully my name, or -even worse! –the name of the good Doctor. Living together only after you’re married and even that only after a long engagement. One year, at least.” She pressed on as it this was normal.

 

Now even Cora and Bruce looked concerned about her mental health.

 

“I understand, Lady Stark.” Thor nodded gravely. “I apologize. I meant no offense to our house. Or to you, Jane.” He turned to the scientist.

 

“No problems.” Jane gave an uncomfortable laugh. When Thor turned his back she threw Toni a thankful look.

 

“I should have realized it sooner.” Thor commented. “Not even you and good Doctor Banner share rooms.”

 

Both Toni and Bruce looked a bit shocked by that.

 

“What?” Bruce asked confused.

 

“We aren’t together.” Toni explained.

 

“No?” Thor looked genuinely confused.

 

“Oh lord…” She huffed. “No! We’ve never even kissed. His loss, of course, ‘cause I’m an amazing kisser.”

 

“Do you know what modesty means, Stark?” Clint asked as he entered the room, right behind Natasha.

 

“If it’s not alcoholic I don’t care about it.” Was Toni’s answer.

 

Clint and Natasha came fully into the view of the room and the archer seemed to finally realize who the other occupants of it were. His eyes found Darcy and he looked shocked for a second, but –being a spy and all –he recovered quickly. Darcy, on the other hand, didn’t have the same luck and was left staring at him with her mouth agape.

 

Toni looked from one to the other and made a very obvious deduction. She wanted to comment on it, but… The nice thing to do would be to remain quiet and spare both of the embarrassment, right?

 

As if!

 

“When did you two fuck?” Toni asked looking again from one to the other.

 

Darcy’s eyes rounded, Natasha measured the girl up and down, while Thor looked at Clint with narrowed eyes.

 

“Oh, screw it.” Darcy huffed. “Two years ago, Puento Antiguo. I just never thought I’d see this guy again.”

 

Toni winced in sympathy. “I hear you, cupcake. Been there, done that. Christine Everhart comes to mind…” Thinking about that woman in particular made Toni remember all the dangers of a one night stand.

 

Darcy –temporarily forgetting about Clint –turned to Toni. “So it’s true that you slept with Christine Everhart?” She asked surprised.

 

“There wasn’t much sleeping involved.” Toni offered.

 

Darcy thought about that for a second. “Bradley Cooper?” She asked.

 

“Just once.”

 

“Justin Timberlake?”

 

“Hm… To be honest, I don’t remember that night.” Toni sighed. “So it’s quite possible.”

 

“Robert Downey Jr.?”

 

“No! Fuck’s sake.” Toni huffed offended. “I’ve never slept with that guy. Don’t know why everybody keeps me asking me that.”

 

“I don’t mean to cut this amazing conversation...” Bruce started carefully. “But this won’t be a problem, right? Can you two leave under the same roof with no problems?” He looked from Darcy to Clint.

 

Darcy was doing her best to ignore Clint and the mental conversation he seemed to be having with Natasha. “No problem at all.” She said cheerily. “I need to use the restroom.” She declared before turning and just leaving on a random direction.

 

Jane shared a look with Thor before going after the younger woman. The god of thunder turned a serious look Clint’s way. “Friend Barton, if you offended Lady Darcy in anyway…”

 

“Oh, chill out, Point Breaker.” Toni cut in. “Darcy is a big girl and I’m sure nothing happened that both of then hadn’t consented. She was just a bit surprised to see Clint here, just as he was. Let’s not go around throwing stones on glass ceilings and all that jazz.”

 

Steve looked from one side to another, because apparently everybody agreed with Toni. Then he cleared his throat. “Toni is right, Thor.” He offered. “Clint and Darcy can solve this on their own. With a lot of respect, of course.” He added when the Prince opened his mouth.

 

“Well, I’m tired of this drama, so I’ll look for a new one.” Toni declared. “Cora, take Thor to his apartment. Pepper, my love, come with.”

 

The redhead –that was likely as curious as Toni was –put herself immediately to the billionaire’s side, and together they went after Darcy.

 

“Jane, I mean it. I’m fine.” They heard Darcy saying as they came closer. “I just wasn’t expecting him. I thought he was the kind of guy that hung around warzones, not fancy New York skyscrapers.”

 

“In Legolas’ defense…” Toni cut in approaching them. “I’m pretty sure that’s what he used to do.”

 

Darcy huffed. “I don’t think that this can get any more embarrassing.”

 

“Please, don’t say that.” Pepper begged. “She’ll take it as a challenge.” She pointed at Toni.

 

“I just have one tiny doubt…” Toni spoke, ignoring Pepper’s comment. “You’re obviously one of mine, in the sense that you know that a one night stand is just that, so… Why are you running?”

 

Darcy took a deep breath, her eyes going to the floor. “Agent Barton was part of the security team that stayed in New Mexico even after Thor left.” She started carefully. “But he was like a ghost, because we’d only hear his name, but never see him.” Jane was nodding along. “So instead of being super intimidated like everybody else, we started making jokes.”

 

“We used to call him Agent Casper.” Jane admitted embarrassed.

 

Pepper turned a laugh into a cough.

 

“Few days before they left for good, I got pissed with all the security and all of their prohibitions, so I just went out without telling anyone.” Darcy continued. “Puente Antiguo has only one bar. I knew they were going to find me quickly, but I really needed one minute for myself. So there was I, getting ready to get smashed as fast as possible and then this… Person gets into the bar.” She threw her hands up, clearly worked over the story. “It looked like a scene of one of those fucking stupid movies, the only thing missing was the cheesy song in the back. And man, hot didn’t even start to describe that guy.”

 

“I know. I tried to convince him to go around the house naked, but he didn’t want to.” Toni offered.

 

“I’d try the same.” Darcy admitted. “Well, making a long story very short... Instead of taking me back to the lab, he introduced himself, drank with me and we ended up having sex in three kind of public places before we found a bed.”

 

The other three women were looking at her without saying a word.

 

“Am I the only one really jealous right now?” Pepper asked.

 

“No.” Toni and Jane answered at the same time.

 

“I didn’t think I’d ever see the idiot again so…” Darcy was looking a bit frustrated. “I don’t know, things were different.”

 

“I know exactly what you mean.” Toni assured her. “You thought you’d never see him again, so you treated him differently; you were more honest, maybe a bit clingier…”

 

“Waaaaaay less timid…” Darcy finished with a sassy smirk.

 

“I like her.” Toni decided. “Pepper, hire her to walk around the lab being cute.”

 

“Hey!” Jane protested, grabbing Darcy’s arm. “She’s mine.”

 

“People, no need to fight over me.” Darcy spoke, loving the attention. “I know I’m awesome, but there’s enough Darcy to go around.”

 

Toni checked her out, bottom to top. “I know what parte I want…” She said staring at Darcy’s chest.

 

“Oh I knew it was coming.” Pepper huffed. “I was wondering when the sexual harassment would start.”

 

“But, Peps, look at those two treasures.” Toni pointed at Darcy’s boobs. “And, though I don’t discriminate, I do love women with great boobs. Thinking of that… Maybe I should get an implant. What do you think?” She asked grabbing her own boobs.

 

Pepper rolled her eyes and decided to ignore the woman, so she turned to Darcy. “Are you okay with leaving in the same place as him?”

 

“Yeah.” Darcy smiled softly. “I was just surprised for a minute. I’d kinda forgotten how amazing his arms are.”

 

Sighs of agreement were given by all of them.

 

“Oh, by the way, thanks Toni.” Jane said. “About before, with Thor. It’s not that I don’t love him...”

 

“But living together is a bit much.” Toni completed for her. “I thought that might be it. If someone had said something along those lines I’d have run.”

 

“You did.” Pepper said dryly. “When I mentioned living together.”  


Toni hummed, non-committal. “Not one of my most gracious moments, I gotta admit.”

 

Even Pepper laughed at that and Toni thought that maybe –just maybe –all of this could work out.

 

XxX

 

Who was she trying to kid? This would never ever work out.

 

A few days after Thor & crew moved to her beautiful Tower, it was decided that they needed to do some kind of “group activity” to bond or whatever. She just wanted to make very clear that it hadn’t been her idea. Actually, this whole bullshit was organized by the most unlikely quartet ever: Steve, Pepper, Thor and Bruce.

 

She couldn’t handle the betrayal!

 

Whatever… So all of them were on one of the Tower’s floor –one that came equipped with a grill and a pool.

 

Because obviously she had a place like this in a Tower in the middle of New York.

 

Things got a bit messy when they had to get bathing suits for Hot and Blonde 1 and 2 –Thor and Steve. The thunder god assured them all that it was completely unnecessary, he didn’t mind doing without one at all. Toni was really supportive of that idea, but Jane, the party pooper –just because she got to enjoy all of that in private! –explained to Thor the concept of modesty. Completely useless on Toni’s opinion.

 

And Steve… Well, the billionaire would love to get him tiny white speedos, but Pepper wouldn’t let her! What was wrong with these women? Where was the union? The sorority?

 

They ended getting board shorts for both of them. A completely waste of good raw material.

 

Besides all of that, Toni had managed to convince Cora to come. It was supposed to be a subtle attack against Bruce, because he surely would have to do something if he saw Cora wearing a bikini. Toni’s assistant came in a dress and said she wouldn’t swim.

 

What was wrong with those people?

 

Clint and Nat –God bless spies-slash-assassins –were comfortable: she was wearing a very sexy black bikini and he one of those boxer-like speedos. Now that was a threesome that Toni would love to be part of.

 

Ok, maybe the situation wasn’t that bad, but seeing all these people together –in her house –made Toni wonder if she had finally gone crazy. Since when she liked other human beings?

 

She would be the first to admit that she had a hard time connecting to people. She wasn’t joking when she said that very few people could put up with her on a daily basis. She knew she wasn’t exactly easy to get along with.

 

Okay, she could be a bitch sometimes.

 

She kind of liked having the Avengers at the Tower –up to a point –but there was this part of her that wanted peace and isolation, and the right to blow up her lab sometimes without alarms sounding.

 

Maybe she should go to Malibu for a while. The mansion had been rebuilt, even if Pepper was the official owner of the place now. She was pretty sure the redhead would let her crash on the couch.

 

Toni’s eyes found Steve again.

 

Really, bloody ridiculous.

 

Did Doctor Erskine knew, when he made the super serum, that the result would be all of that? Toni had seen some pictures of Steve pre-serum. The pretty face was exactly the same, even if it looked a bit healthier now, but that body… Wow.

 

“I know I’ll regret asking…” Cora started, standing by Toni. “But here goes nothing. What are you thinking about?”

 

Toni didn’t even take her eyes off Steve to answer. “I’m imagining where I’d lick first if I ever got a chance.”

 

“MISS STARK!” Cora blushed!

 

Her voice came out louder than expected and everybody turned to look at the two of them, making Cora blush even harder.

 

“Nobody is talking to you all.” Toni made a shooing gesture to the others.

 

Bruce threw a suspicious look at Toni, before turning back to Steve, who also didn’t seem very assured.

 

The billionaire turned back to her PA with an amused grin. “Come on, you can’t tell me you never thought something along those lines.”

 

“I don’t talk about this kind of things.” Cora replied primly.

 

“I don’t know why. There’s nothing wrong with having some… Urges.” Toni moved her eyebrows suggestively.

 

Cora narrowed her eyes, then blushed a bit again. “The six-pack.” She admitted quietly. “Definitely the six-pack.”

 

“Atta, girl.” Toni patted her on the shoulder gently. “Admitting won’t kill you. Even though I know that what you really want is Bruce’s body.”

 

“Miss Star…” Cora frowned.

 

“If you tell me that it’s not like that I’ll fire you.” Toni warned.

 

The other woman rolled her eyes. “I was going to say that I don’t know what to do anymore.”

 

“Oh, that’s adorable.” Toni gave in to temptation –what a shock –and pinched Cora’s cheek –even though she knew she was going to pay for this in some kind of subtle way later. “Bruce is complicated. He is more insecure than a teenager covered in acne. He’s the kind of guy with whom things will always be complicated…” She said honestly, because there were few people in this world that she wanted to see happy more than she wanted to see Bruce, but she had to be realistic. “But he’s an amazing man and deserves a normal life. Meaning: you’ll have to find a way. Get your clothes off, sit on his lap. I don’t know.”

 

“And here I was thinking you’re going to say something sweet.” Cora spoke, but she was smiling.

 

“I can’t let you fool yourself this way.” Toni winked at her. “Now that this is settled… Darcy, come here, darling.” She called.

 

Darcy traded confused looks with Jane, before coming closer to Toni like she was a dog with rabies. “Are you drunk?” She asked mistrustfully.

 

“Unfortunately not.” Toni sighed. “Are you wearing a bikini under this?

 

Darcy narrowed her eyes, before taking a look at her own shirt and jeans shorts. “Yeah.”

 

“Great. Take off your clothes and go swim.” Toni ordered, making a dismissive gesture with her hands.

 

“Hey! Are you crazy?” Darcy asked grabbing her shirt as if Toni planned to take it off herself –you never knew. “Can’t you see the Black Widow over there, being hotter than the sun? Not even if I was drunk.”

 

“Are you crazy?” Toni retorted, as if Darcy was being slow just to annoy her. “Get that shirt off and Team Testosterone won’t even remember that Nat is here.”

 

Darcy didn’t seem all that convinced. “You’re pushing too much.” She accused. “What do you get out of this?”

 

“Besides the view? I wanna make two observations and they depend on that.”

 

Cora was looking from one to the other, but she was obviously as curious as Darcy to know what the hell Toni was planning.

 

“Nobody else is swimming.” Darcy sighed.

 

Toni snorted. “If this is the only excuse left…” Instead of finishing her sentence, Toni undid the knot holding her beach throw and let the fabric fall to the ground. She had learned how to wear those when she went to Rio to see the Carnival and forgot to come back… For five months.

 

“Well, that’s… Minimal.” Darcy commented, eyes on Toni’s white bikini. “And I’m surprised it isn’t red or golden. Or red and golden.”

 

Beach throws weren’t the only thing she had loved about Brazil. The bikinis were amazing. And the men. And women. And the alcohol...

 

“Don’t take off your clothes before I’m ready.” Toni ordered Darcy before running to the pool and cannonballing into the water. She was a graceless swimmer and very proud of it.

 

She came up for air, then she waved at Darcy. “Your turn.” She called, making once again everybody pay attention.

 

Darcy still didn’t seem very happy about it, but she started to take off her shorts.

 

In any other moment Toni would have enjoyed the view more, but she did want to make two observations.

 

First she looked at Clint. One night stand her ass. The way he was looking at Darcy now proved that, whatever had happened, wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.

 

Nice knowing that.

 

Then she looked at Steve. She wanted to know if the Captain was as pure as he liked to pretend he was. Of course, her body was completely different from Darcy’s, but if Steve was into girls –and there was always the possibility that he wasn’t –she could get him.

 

But Toni was the one caught by surprise when she turned to Steve and found out that he was looking at her. Not cute, young Darcy. Her.

 

Of course, as soon as his eyes found hers the Captain blushed and turned his head.

 

But, too late, she’d seen it.

 

Now things were getting interesting…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wrote this way before Avengers 2 and I didn't know that Clint would come up with a family. So we're obviously not considering that part of the movie here.
> 
> This chapter was mostly fluff, but I hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> Captain, beware! It's hunting season!
> 
> xoxo


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY CRAP! Talk about a Christmas miracle...
> 
> Guess what??? My computer is back! I've never been so happy in my whole life! Thank you all so much for the kind comments and the support. Most of all, thank you all for your patience.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this piece of goodness.
> 
> Sadly I had no time for re-reading or beta-reading this, so I have no idea of what you may find in there. Let me know if something is too terrible.

Toni was up to something. Steve could feel it.

 

After she’d caught him staring at her on the pool, Steve had kept waiting for some kind of joke at his expense, but it never came. Was it strange that he was somewhat disappointed by the fact?

 

On the following days Toni was bizarrely focused on the calendar, muttering to herself. Then, on the current day, something different happened: Toni came into their communal kitchen smiling like she’d just won Miss USA.

 

When they were all in town the Avengers tried to have meals together, or at least the mandatory “family dinner”, as Clint called them.

 

On this specific morning, they were having breakfast together when Toni strode in, giving all of them a sunny “good morning.” Steve, Clint, Jane and Bruce –who were the ones present at the scene –gave her confused looks. Toni was the definition of “not a morning person”.

 

Clint opened his mouth to ask her what was the occasion for such a happy smile –and knowing him and Toni it would likely become some kind of innuendo –when Toni’s cell phone beeped. The billionaire checked it with a maniac grin on her face, typed a reply and put the device away.

 

“Jarvis, Miss Potts must not be bothered!” She declared. “No phone calls unless it’s urgent. Everything else can be redirected to whoever is her assistant right now.”

 

“Your definition of ‘urgent’ or hers, Madam?” The British voice asked in a tone that looked a whole lot like he was just humoring Toni.

 

“Mine.” Toni said as if it was obvious.

 

“Maybe I shouldn’t ask, but, what the hell.” Clint spoke. “What’s your definition of ‘urgent’?”

 

“Fire on the building, alien attack, machines’ rebellion and zombie apocalypse.” She recited easily.

 

“Are you seriously expecting the zombie apocalypse?” Jane asked confused.

 

“I wasn’t seriously expecting an alien attack and look what that got me.” Toni pointed out and Jane seemed to take that as a good argument.

 

“Can I ask you why you’re isolating Pepper?” Bruce asked.

 

“You can ask, it doesn’t mean I’ll tell you.” Toni failed nonchalance, analyzing her nails. “Ah screw it, I will! Agent Coulson finally decided to grow a pair and came to talk to her.”

 

Clint’s eyes popped open. “Really? I thought he’d never get the courage.”

 

“Hey! How do you know that?” Toni demanded.

 

“Nat and I are his favorites.” Clint said smugly. “Sometimes he’d talk to us about her.”

 

“How adorable…” Toni commented. “The main thing here is that this is getting solved, I don’t have to worry about those two anymore and I can jump to the next people on my list.”

 

Steve, who had been bringing his mug to his mouth, froze halfway there. “What list?” He asked worried.

 

“The ‘people needing to get laid’ list!” Toni declared, clearly proud of herself. “Pepper was the priority, ‘cause Pepper’s always the priority, but now that that’s fixed, I can focus on you all.”

 

Jane was the only that didn’t seem to be overly concerned with the whole thing. Likely because she was getting some on a regular basis.

 

“Wait a fucking minute!” Clint called. “What list?”

 

“Chill out, Robin Hood, you’re low priority.” Toni made a dismissive gesture with her hand. “Bruce has the honor of being next.”

 

While Clint was divided between being offended and relieved, Bruce looked like he was on the edge of a panic attack. Not even facing the Chitauri invasion he had looked so stressed.

 

“What do you mean I’m next?” He wanted to know.

 

“I mean you’re next.” She said simply. “Either you do something about Cora or Cora is gonna do something about you. Fair warning.”

 

“Cora? Your assistant?” Jane sounded surprised. “She’s adorable.”

 

If there was a word Toni didn’t associate with Cora, it was “adorable”, but whatever Jane said… “Cora likes this idiot, but she’s slow and hasn’t done a thing about it.” Toni rolled her eyes. “But we’ll fix this.”

 

“Toni, I’m not really comfortable with this.” Bruce spoke, trying to sound firm –and failing miserably.

 

“Not my problem.” She sing-songed to him.

 

“Where does Steve fit in that list?” Clint asked, morbidly curious. “What’s his priority?”

 

“Ah he’s also in desperate need of getting laid.” Toni informed. “But, as I’m busy taking care of some other business right now, I can’t solve this for you. So, Captain, you’ll have to wait just a tad more, but you and I, we’ll get there.” She gave Steve a wink. “Now I’m off to the labs. Don’t disturb me, unless it’s urgent.” And she left, leaving the four people in the room pretty perplexed.

 

“Was it just me…” Jane began carefully, “or when she meant she’s going to ‘solve’ Steve’s problem, she really meant that she will do it?”

 

XxX

 

Phil wasn’t exactly sure he should be doing this. To be quite honest, facing Loki on his own had been way less scary.

 

Although Toni had assured him that things were going to work out well, he wasn’t feeling so sure. He had tried to call Pepper two days ago and, once again, she hadn’t answered it. Maybe this was a –very clear -sign that the spark that had once been there, no longer existed.

 

However, Phil had never been the quitting type. He needed one last chance, needed to be face to face with her and see if he had really lost his window, if there wasn’t any other way. This would only be over when Pepper looked in his eyes and told him to give up.

 

And, to be quite honest, maybe not even then.

 

Was it ridiculous that he was so in love with her? To have spent a whole year travelling around the world, seeing a bit of everything, only to come back to the exact same place and the exact same woman?

 

No, it wasn’t, because if there was one thing on this Earth that Toni babbled about and it was a hundred percent right, was that Pepper was an amazing woman. There wasn’t another woman like her on this planet.

 

Phil took a deep breath once he reached the hallway to her apartment, then he walked to her door. He took another deep breath –this one out of sheer nervousness –and rang the door bell.

 

The door opened by itself.

 

“Come on in, Cora.” Pepper’s voice called from somewhere inside. “I thought you were stopping by later.”

 

Phil stepped into the apartment, but stood close by the door. “It’s not Cora.” He called, proud of how his voice didn’t show how much he shook on the inside.

 

Super Secret Agent his ass.

 

Pepper quickly stood up from the sofa where she had been sitting. Phil had never seen her look prettier, clean face, shorts and a tank top, probably looking forward to a calm day.

 

“Phil.” She was obviously shocked by his presence. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

 

“Jarvis let me in.” He had a small grin.

 

Pepper crossed her arms and arched a brow. “You mean Toni, right?”

 

“Yes, we met in London.” He took another deep breath. “Pepper, I would like to talk to you. It’s not going to take long, but if you never want to see me again after this, I’ll accept it.”

 

“Of course. I… I’m sorry, I’m a terrible host.” She gave a nervous laugh. “Would you like to sit? Can I get you anything to drink?”

 

She was nervous, a bit anxious and this had to be a good sign, right? If she really didn’t want to talk to him, she would have said so, right?

 

Phil came closer to her and picked her hands gently between his. “I just need you to pay attention.” He told her gently. “The only good thing -and I do mean it - of getting involved in that whole ‘Iron Lady’ mess right from the beginning, was you. It has always been you. I don’t get paid nearly enough to put up with a spoiled brat like Stark and I’m very far from being Job. But there you were, always right in the middle of it, and suddenly, being involved in that mess meant being close to you. That made it all worth it.”

 

Pepper looked beyond shocked.

 

“When you and Toni started dating… Well, it looked like it was over for me. She could give you anything you wanted with a snap of her fingers, and you looked happy, complete and… That made me happy.” He continued. “Seeing you happy made me happy. As corny as that sounds.” He gave her a bashful smile.

 

“Phil…” She called, her voice full of shock.

 

But now he had started and he needed to finish. “After you two broke up…” He sighed. “I allowed myself to hope as I hadn’t before, and…” He hesitated. “It didn’t look as one-sided as it had before, it looked like there was a chance. But then New York happened and… I just need to know if it’s over for you, if I should quit and leave, because to me nothing has changed. It isn’t over yet.”

 

He became silent in face of Pepper’s expression. Her eyes were wide open and it looked like she was barely breathing.

 

And then –suddenly –her lips were on his.

 

Phil wasn’t sure of how that happened. Actually, he barely managed to move, but it was a brief kiss, just a touch of mouths.

 

She took a quick step back and gently touched her own lips. “I was scared.” She admitted. “When I say the news about New York being attacked. Of course that part of this fear was for Toni, because she’s reckless and was carrying a missile, but my biggest concern was… You. What was happening? Were you okay? When you called me, worried about me... I thought my heart was going to explode. In a happy way.” Her laughter was a bit embarrassed. “I wasn’t at SHIELD’s headquarter to see Toni that day. I went to see you.”

 

It was Phil’s turn to be speechless.

 

“But before I even had the chance of seeing you, Toni came and fought with Director Fury. I was appalled by what he’d done, the lie, and Toni was so angry that I knew she needed me then.” Pepper’s eyes went to the floor. “I couldn’t accept that those were the type of people you worked for, people that used you and your life like that. I was still nervous and more than a bit stressed. That first month after Toni broke with SHIELD passed so fast and I needed time to think.”

 

She ran her fingers through her hair, messed around with her rings, her eyes still on the ground.

 

“At first, that was why I wasn’t answering your calls, I needed to think.” She admitted. “I was trying to conciliate the Phil I knew with Agent Coulson. I wasn’t exactly happy with SHIELD, I was working like a mad woman at the company, because of everything that happened. When I felt ready to talk to you again, Killian happened.”

 

Phil felt the bottom of his stomach dropping. When he’d heard about the bombing of Toni’s house, he only thought about Pepper. Fury just wouldn’t let him go over to Malibu.

 

“After that I’m pretty sure you can imagine how things were.” She put her arms around herself. “I couldn’t sleep for a long time, and sometimes I still can’t. I had to get that thing off me, go to therapy, think it through, work more… When I felt stronger, the first thing I wanted to do was call you. But I just couldn’t.”

 

She finally looked him in the eyes. “I didn’t know what I’d say.” She continued. “I didn’t know what you wanted to hear, if you still wanted me in any way. Every time you called I was worried that it was just to talk about business and nothing else. The more time it passed, the more worried I got, more embarrassed, asking myself why I waited that long.” She stopped because she didn’t know what else to say.

 

“Wait.” He asked gently. “I don’t want to interrupt you or anything, but... Do you mean that…”

 

“It isn’t over.” She completed. “For me it isn’t.”

 

“Can we finish this conversation later?” He asked with a grin.

  
“Later does sound good.” Pepper agreed slowly.

 

“Good.” His grin became a full smile. “Can I…”

 

“Yes, please.”

 

Phil passed his finger through her shorts’ belt loop and pulled Pepper closer. Since she was barefoot they were the exact same height and kissing her was easy. She came to him smiling, her arms around his neck.

 

Now that she was there, so damn close, it would be easy to drown in sensations, too easy; but Phil liked to take it slow. He wanted to enjoy every moment, every touch, every kiss; no hurry, because it had taken so damn long to get there that he didn’t want it to finish fast.

 

So they kissed slowly and tenderly and eventually Pepper parted her lips to him. It was still slow and tender, but now it had more meaning, more intentions behind it.

 

Minutes, hours or months later –who the hell knew –they broke apart, but stayed close –foreheads touching, noses rubbing and stupid smiles. Everything was fucking perfect.

 

“We still need to talk.” Pepper said, but she was still smiling.

 

“Of course.” Phil nodded. “We have all the time in the world. There’s no need to hurry.”

 

“We also don’t have to be that slow.” Pepper chimed, making Phil confused for a second. “I have many fantasies about this suit.” She confessed, playing with his tie, suddenly a bit too shy to look at his face.

 

Phil felt like his brain went blank for a second. “Okay… Maybe not that slow then.” He finally managed.

 

Pepper laughed before kissing him again.

 

XxX

 

Clint was just chilling, taking care of his bow and arrows, just a man and his weapons of choice, in his room. You know, no stress?

 

Yeah, Nat didn’t know.

 

Or did, but chose to ignore it.

 

One minute he was completely alone and in the next he raised his head and came face to face with Natasha. Staring at him. Unblinking. It was kind of unnerving.

 

Unnerving, but not exactly surprising that she had just entered his apartment, she was the only person in the Tower with permission for that. It also wasn’t shocking that he hadn’t heard her coming in; Natasha was that good at getting wherever she wanted to be. No, what was actually strange was her look: it was like she was analyzing him, measuring him up and getting completely disappointed by what she saw.

 

What had he done now?

 

“Hey, Nat.” He spoke, completely casual and relaxed. “Wanna a beer?” He asked, offering her the bottle he had in his hand.

 

“What do you plan to do with Lewis?” She asked directly, because if there was one thing Natasha Romanoff didn’t have to waste was time.

 

Clint was actually glad he had nothing in his mouth at the moment, otherwise he’d have chocked. That wasn’t what he was expecting. At all.

 

Or maybe he should have. They knew each other for many years and there wasn’t anyone is this world who Clint trusted more –ironic, considering she was a former Russian spy/assassin, who made a living seducing and destroying men –and also there was nobody who knew him better.

 

It was obvious that Natasha would notice something and wouldn’t just let it go.

 

“Nothing.” He said firmly, mostly because if he gave her a very honest answer –Lord, there were so many things he wanted to do to her- Natasha was likely going to hit him.

 

The redhead narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. His answer wasn’t what she wanted to hear or she didn’t believe him. Anyways, things were about to get ugly for the Hawk.

 

“Can I ask why?” She asked at last.

 

“Do you have to?” He rolled his eyes. “Look, Nat: Darcy is an amazing girl. It’s the truth and I have no reason to say otherwise. That said… What happened was a one-night-only kind of thing. It’s over.”

 

Natasha stared at him in absolute silence, like she was looking deep inside his soul. Finally she seemed to have come to a decision. “Ok.” She conceded.

 

Oh, wait a second. Something there wasn’t right. “That easy?” He asked, not even trying to hide his distrust. “Maybe I should be worried.”

 

“Yeah. You should.” She gave him a mysterious smile, before turning to leave.

 

“Nat! Come on! I don’t put my nose in your business!” He protested.

 

“As if I needed your help.” The redhead threw over her shoulder, not even missing a step.

 

Shit. He was screwed.

 

XxX

 

“Toni!”

 

The billionaire raised her head and opened a huge smile. “Rhodey!” She dropped everything she was doing and ran to hug her best friend. “It feels like it’s been forever since I saw you!”

 

“It’s been a few months, at least.” Colonel James Rhodes admitted. “But I was in DC and now I have a couple of free days, so I decided to come and check on you and Pepper. By the way… I tried calling her, but Jarvis wouldn't let me.”

 

“Pepper is extremely busy and must not be bothered.” Toni cut immediately.

 

Rhodes gave Toni a look full of mistrust. “If you were talking about anyone besides Pepper I’d worry you’re trying to hide a body.” He commented dryly. “As it is Pepper, I’ll just assume you’re hiding something from her.”

 

“Hilarious.” Toni rolled her eyes. “So it’s you and me. How about a swank club, with a lot of models and VIP’s?”

 

“How about no?” Rhodes cut her. “I have a reputation to uphold, different from you.”

 

“Hey! I do have a reputation!” Toni protested. “Of being a party girl and I’m very proud of it. It took me years to get there.”

 

Rhodey rolled his eyes. “Let’s try to do something that won’t get us on the E! as this week scandal.”

 

“You’re so boring.” Toni sighed. “I’ll just finish something here and then we can go.” She said, indicating the StarkPad on her hand.

 

“What about working less?” He teased. “At least that’s what you’re always telling me. Gimme that.” He took the tablet out of her hand.

 

“Hey! Give it back!” She protested, trying to get the thing back from him.

 

Rhodey made a half turn, escaping Toni’s hands, then another one. “Why would I do that?” He laughed. “This is fun.” He decided, raising his arm above his head, leaving the tablet out of Toni’s reach.

 

“I’ll show you fun.” She huffed.

 

Without any warning –because Toni was the kind of person that didn’t even think before doing something this stupid –she put her hands on his shoulders and jumped, hanging on Rhodes. The colonel was caught by surprise and they only didn’t fall because he managed to grab on a nearby table.

 

“Toni, are you insane?” He was breathless by the scare.

 

“Nobody told you to piss me off.” She answered petulantly.

 

“Excuse me?”

 

Toni groaned in frustration. Of course. It was only obvious that from every single person in that freaking Tower, HE would be the one to catch her hanging from Rhodes like a koala.

 

The billionaire let go of Rhodes and smoothed her shirt back down, like it was really normal. “Rhodey, this is Captain Steve Rogers, aka America’s pride and joy. Capsicle, this is Colonel James Rhodes, my bestie and War Machine.” She introduced without looking at either of them.

 

“Iron Patriot.” Rhodes replied automatically, but in a very absent way, since his eyes were shining in admiration, looking at Steve.

 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Colonel.” Steve spoke sincerely, shaking his hand.

 

“The pleasure is all mine, Captain.” Rhodes was quick to shake the hand back. “Your works has been…”

 

“Oh lord!” Toni groaned. “Can you suck each other somewhere else? I have shit to do.”

 

“Why are you so stressed?” Rhodes wanted to know. “Needing to get laid?”

 

Toni opened her mouth, but then she just huffed. “Could be. I haven’t been going out as much.”

 

“Really?” Rhodes seemed genuinely surprised. “Why?”

 

“Apparently too much sex and alcohol isn’t very healthy.” She shrugged. “Who would’ve thought, hn?”

 

Rhodes rolled his eyes. “You’re demented, Stark.”

 

“And on related news… The sky is blue.” She sassed back. “What did you want, Capsicle?” She turned to Steve.

 

Steve looked from Stark to Rhodes, then honest to God blushed. “It wasn’t important.” He decided. “We can talk later.”

 

“Whatever.” She shrugged. “I’m gonna change and then we can go to that sushi place you like so much.” She offered Rhodes.

 

“Way better than a club.” He agreed. “I’ll wait for you on your living room.”

 

“Oh, by the way, Captain.” She turned fully to Steve, hip cocked and a smirk on her lips. “I know exactly why you’re here. So the answer is no, you didn’t get me wrong. I meant exactly what I said.”

 

“Toni!” Steve was getting this lovely blush all over his face. “Why would you even...”

 

“Look in a mirror, buddy.” She rolled her eyes. “Why do you think I wanna take advantage of your innocence?”

 

Rhodes eyes became huge. “Toni! This is too much! Even for you.”

 

She looked far from chastised. “I’m not telling him to strip, am I? I’m just giving fair warning.”

 

Steve sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I can’t believe this.”

 

“Well, you should start believing, Capsicle.” Toni chirped. “Because my new purpose in life is finding how super that serum actually made you.” She winked to him and left the lab.

 

Steve turned to Rhodes, expecting some help or support, but the Colonel was just trying to control his laughter. “Good luck, Captain. You’re gonna need it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TONI!!!! lol
> 
> Poor Steve. Or not.
> 
> Phil and Pepper!! This ship has sailed, amen to that.
> 
> Let me know what you think.
> 
> I wish all of you a magic Christmas. Blessings on you and your family and beloved ones.
> 
> See you all next year!  
> xoxo


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok… First of all… I am sorry as fuck, people. Jesus Christ! I have absolutely no excuse for this, besides the fact that I’m a lazy bitch. Translating is a pain in the ass (this fanfic was originally written in Portuguese by yours truly, and I decided to translate it). It’s an annoying task so I kept postponing it, and when I finally decided to take a look, I saw how long it has been. I’ll try to be better this year, I promise. At least doing a chapter every 3 months or something…
> 
> So I’d really like to thank you guys for the support and the patience. It means a lot to me.

Bruce was trying to concentrate on the samples on his microscope, but he couldn’t stop smiling. Pepper had skipped town with Agent Coulson.

 

Toni had entered the kitchen that morning declaring to all that they both had eloped to the Caribbean to live life planting coconuts. Natasha came right behind her, rolling her eyes and saying they just went to Malibu for a few days and would be back by the weekend.

 

Who’d have thought that living on a building full of superheroes and secret agents would offer moments like these?

 

Bruce might come out as a recluse, but deep down, he was a romantic guy. This type of thing still made him smile.

 

The only problem with this whole thing -Pepper finally getting together with Coulson -was that now he knew what Toni would do: she’d try to get him with Cora.

 

And it wasn’t that he didn’t like Cora, -because she was amazing – but he had to think about the Other Guy. He’d always be there.

 

“Good morning, doctor Banner.”

 

Bruce turned around to look at her. “Good morning, Cora.”

 

She was impeccably dressed -as usual- carrying a pile of papers on one hand, and a coffee mug on the other. Toni always said she was like a mini-Pepper: she could do everything at the same time and wearing high heels.

 

She left the coffee by his side -prepared exactly how he liked it, as always -and went ahead to drop the papers on another table. Bruce was almost turning back to his samples when he saw her shoulders tensing and her hand going to her neck.

 

“Are you okay, Cora?” He asked.

 

She put her hand down immediately. “Of course.”

 

“Are you sure?” He insisted.

 

“Maybe not.” She sighed. “I fell asleep on my couch last night, and now my neck is killing me. Spending the day in front of my computer will be a pain. Literally.”

 

Bruce took a minute to think about it. He could help her; it wouldn’t be a problem. Cora never complained or missed a single day; if she was admitting to being in pain, it must be pretty bad for her.

 

“I can help you.” He offered carefully.

 

“How?” She asked curious, but she’d turned her head too fast and once again put her hand on her neck.

 

“Take a seat.” Bruce pointed at the chair by her side.

 

She did it and looked at him. Bruce cleared his throat. “Maybe you should take your jacket off.”

 

Cora didn’t say anything, just took the piece off. Of course, today of all days, she was wearing a thin blouse instead of a shirt. But okay, no problems. It wasn’t a big deal.

 

“Can you turn around?” Bruce asked, coming closer.

 

Once again Cora did as asked, giving him her back. Bruce rubbed his hands to warm them, firmly ignored his heart, which was starting to beat faster -great time for that to happen -and put his hands on Cora’s shoulders.

 

She sighed. “Massage!”

 

Bruce laughed softly. “Let me know if I hurt you.”

 

Cora just hummed her agreement.

 

Bruce concentrated on trying to ease the tenseness on her neck and shoulders without paying attention to time. He’d never seen her this relaxed.

 

“You have magic hands.” She murmured, her voice sounding sleepy.

 

Bruce felt his face heating up like a teenager with a crush. “I learned some things traveling around, trying to learn how to keep myself relaxed.” He admitted.

 

“Oh, right, because of the Other Guy.” She spoke. “With this type of skill, one has to wonder why the hell you’re here, instead of working at some isolated five-star spa.”

  
“I’ve thought about it.” He confessed.

 

“Don’t go.” She hurried to say. “We’d miss you.”

 

“I believe that living without worrying about me turning into the Other Guy at any given moment -maybe even because someone drank my tea -would be better.” He mumbled with a certain resignation.

 

“I worry more about miss Stark blowing up this whole Tower than I worry about the Other Guy.” Cora informed him.

 

Bruce’s hands froze immediately at that. “You only say that because you’ve never seen me angry.”

 

Cora’s hands covered his, since they were still on her shoulders. “That’s not true.” She told him softly. “I was in New York when Loki attacked. Here, at Stark Tower, actually.”

 

Bruce tensed.

 

“When Loki took over the Tower, the staff was directed to take refuge on the underground levels, but we watched everything that happened in the Tower and outside through the cameras.” She explained.

 

Bruce pulled his hands free and took a step back. Cora turned around, so she could look at him properly.

 

“You saw… You saw what happened to Loki.”

 

“And it was deserved.” She insisted. “The Hulk knew exactly who was his enemy. He wiped the floor with Loki, then left the Tower. He didn’t break a single piece of furniture more. And it was the same on the streets.”

 

“He hit Thor.” He told the floor.

 

“Thor can take it.” She shrugged. “And it doesn’t look like he’s holding a grudge.”

 

“I’m dangerous, Cora.”

 

“But then again, Bruce, in this building, who isn’t?” She asked, and even though her voice was gentle, it was still firm in its conviction. “Thank you for the massage.” She gave him a smile and left Bruce with his thoughts.

 

And then…

 

“She called me Bruce.” He was smiling.

 

XxX

 

Darcy had never thought that living in a building full of superheroes would be so fucking entertaining.

 

Sure, chaos could roll around at any given moment, but everybody was great. It was quite obvious that most of them were still learning how to live with others and deal with it, but they were all on the right path.

 

Take Steve, for example: he was so precious! Polite, the kind of guy a girl can take home to meet her mom. -besides being a beefcake.

 

Seriously, they made that man and broke the mold. Kind of literally.

 

It would be so much easier if she was into him.

 

However, if she was being honest with herself, it was impossible to pay attention to anyone else when Clint was around.

 

And how dumb was that?

 

And it wasn’t even because he was a sex athlete -honestly, he should get an Olympic medal for it. There was something else to him, something only he had: his dry humor, that crooked smile and the eyes of someone who lived through things she could only imagine.

 

She was a bit embarrassed of how things went down between them. Not because of the sex -just a reminder: athlete -but because of the way she opened up to him, talking about her insecurities and doubts. Clint ended up seeing a Darcy that few people ever met, because of the way they talked.

 

Besides that, there was this other little thing, and this was what embarrassed her the most. She had… Kind of…

 

Open to interpretation, different people saw things in different ways…

 

So, yeah… She had… Kind of… Run away the next morning.

 

Okay, maybe “running away” was kind of a strong name for it. The guy was a ninja spy! It was ridiculous he hadn’t heard her leaving. Maybe he didn’t want her there. There was real chance for that.

 

In conclusion the whole thing was supposed to be a one-night stand. It wasn’t her fault he was around now. Well, not exactly around, really, because he had that lady…

 

“Lewis, we need to talk.”

 

Darcy jumped about six feet in the air (She wasn’t exaggerating!). “I swear to Thor I didn’t go anywhere near him!” She shouted.

 

Natasha arched a perfect brow. Of course, everything on her was perfect.

 

“What are you talking about?” She asked.

 

“Nothing.” Darcy cleared her throat. “What do you want to talk about?”

 

“Clint.” The redhead spoke simply, only confirming Darcy’s biggest fears.

 

Darcy knew this was going to happen! She just knew it. Well, at least Natasha hadn’t decided that killing her was easier -yet.

 

“There’s no need.” Darcy assured her quickly. “I have no interest on him whatsoever. I know he’s your man and all. I totally respect that. Please don’t kill me.”

 

Natasha was looking at her, clearly unimpressed. “Clint isn’t ‘my man’.” She informed Darcy simply.

 

“Hum… I don’t believe that.” Darcy declared, even though she was pretty sure the risk of death got higher every time she opened her mouth.

  
“I’ll admit we were together once.” Natasha told her. “But it was a long time ago. We’re friends, great friends. We went through a lot together, things that normal people wouldn’t understand.”

 

“Normal like me, right?” Darcy sighed.

 

“This isn’t a bad thing, Lewis. Believe me.” The woman seemed to think a bit, before coming to some sort of decision. “Clint was married to someone from our midst once and it didn’t work out. **(1)** We’re talking about two people with too many problems, traumas and complicated pasts. But someone like you… So simple, so normal, so… Carefree… Maybe that’s exactly what he needs.”

 

“Wait a minute.” Darcy was agape. “Are you trying to tell me I should go for it or something? Because there’s the tiny detail of him not wanting me.”

 

Natasha rolled her eyes. “I’m ignoring that last part.” She informed Darcy. “I’m not trying to tell you anything. I’m telling you to do it.”

 

“Oh lord. The Black Widow is trying to set me up with someone.” Darcy was struggling to accept that one. “I think I’m in the Twilight Zone.”

 

“Better me than Toni.” Natasha offered. “She has a list. You never know what’s your priority level on it or with whom she wants to set you up.”

 

Natasha was probably right.

 

“So... You and Clint…”

 

“Get a move on, Lewis.” Natasha told her. “He’s stubborn and it’s under the same stupid idea that you aren’t interested. Honestly, if there was any more sexual tension between the two of you, the building would’ve collapsed already.”

 

Well, when a Russian assassin puts it like that… Who was Darcy to say no?

 

XxX

 

“So… You and the Captain?” Rhodey asked, trying to hold in his smirk.

 

“It’s not what you’re thinking.” Toni informed him. “I’m just trying to pop his cherry, but it’s kinda hard.”

 

Rhodey, who’d been drinking water, choked on it. “You know, that’s kind of crass, even for you.”

  
“Oh really?” Toni rolled her eyes.

 

She should’ve predicted this coming up eventually, but since Rhodey never mentioned it the night before during dinner, she had forgotten about it. Obviously she shouldn’t have because, apparently, Captain America’s virginity was a national treasure.

 

And a subject better saved for lunch.

 

“The biggest problem is that he’s so fucking ‘perfect’.” She was being way too sarcastic, but she didn’t care. “I barely know how to talk to him. I can’t figure him out.”

 

Wasn’t that the truth? Toni had no idea what was Steve’s deal. Why the fuck did he think he needed to be so freaking perfect all the time? It was fine being a good man -he was one of the best -but he didn’t have to be a saint. A martyr. A pain in her ass.

 

“What? Wasn’t this the problem with Pepper too?” Rhodey teased her. “She’s was too wonderful? You’re the one saying all the time how she’s above the rest of humanity.”

 

“She is.” Toni spoke as if it was obvious. “Pepper is amazing. The thing is: she already knew me very well when she decided to give me a chance. She’s a hell of a woman and I’ll never meet anyone else like her.

 

“What makes you think the Captain won’t give you a chance like she did?” Rhodey threw back.

 

“Because I wanted a relationship with Pepper more than anything else. I don’t want a relationship with Steve.” Toni spoke as if Rhodey was a kid who couldn’t see the obvious. “I just wanna have sex with him.”

 

“And we’re back to crass.” Rhodey huffed.

 

“Just the way I like it.” She winked at him, making the man laugh.

 

But then he sobered up, looking quite reflexive.

 

“Spit it out, Rhodey.” Toni prodded him.

 

“There’s something going on with SHIELD, Toni.” He told her.

 

“Don’t care.” She said immediately.

 

“Maybe you should.” His tone was super serious now. “There’s something afoot in DC, agents meeting with Senator Stern…”

 

“That asshole?” Toni huffed. “Do you know who it is?”

 

“No, but it isn’t your friend Coulson.”

 

“Oh, hold your horses. Coulson is not my friend.”

  
“Whatever, Toni.” He rolled his eyes. “You need to keep an eye on SHIELD. They’re up to something.”

  
“They always are! Why do you think I jumped ship? Fury only cares about his own agenda. Did you know he stopped Coulson and the Captain from looking for me when I went missing?”

 

“What?” James seemed appalled. “I had no idea.”

 

“I didn’t either, not until recently. They both feel terrible because of it.”

 

“And you still let Rogers live in your building?” He asked confused.

 

“Not only him, but also Romanoff and Barton. We’re trying to work out this ‘team’ nonsense. It isn’t easy.” She frowned.

 

“Of course it isn’t, Toni.” Rhodey couldn’t believe he had to actually explain this to her. “Working as a team is never easy; but you all have the chance of doing something unique. Giving up now because someone left a dirty plate on the sink is pretty stupid.”

 

“I know.” Toni snapped. “But it’s not that. They’re… They…”

 

“Are people?” James finished, because he was finally understanding what was going on there.

 

“Yes!” Toni exploded, like this was the biggest problem of all times. “And they all have a history, opinions and ideas. They have feelings and weak spots, subjects they don’t want to talk about… I feel like that place is going to blow up at any given moment. And I’m not even talking about a Code Green.”

 

Rhodes stretched his arm and grabbed Toni’s hand. “I just wanted to know how someone who’s so brilliant with machines, can be so stupid around people.” He said, but it was without heat.

 

“Well, it’s impossible to be amazingly good at everything. Even for me.” She spoke with fake sorrow.

 

James laughed and threw his napkin at her.

 

But this whole SHIELD mess? Yeah, she hadn’t forgotten it.

 

XxX

 

The end of the week brought Pepper along, and she had a smile that could outshine the sun.

 

Toni’s heart felt painfully tight inside her chest, even though she was happy for Pepper. Some things never change.

 

“You’re quite tanned, hm, Pepps?” Toni commented, upon getting a better look at her. “If you have a single bikini mark I’ll slap you. With the whole house at your disposal, I hope you guys fucked on every single flat surface.”

 

Cora, who’d been around trying to get Toni to sign some papers, dropped her StarkPad after that one.

 

“None of your business.” Pepper said as she rolled her eyes. “What matters is that I’m back.”

 

“Whatever.” Toni shrugged. “I don’t need you anymore. I have my new best friend: Cora!” She put her arm over Cora’s shoulders, while the assistant looked at her as if she’d finally lost her mind.

 

Pepper arched a brow. “Okay then. Bye.” And turned to leave.

 

Toni let go of Cora immediately. “Pepper, no! Don’t leave me!” She ran after the redhead. “Peeeeeeps!”

 

“She’s pathetic.” Clint, who just arrived at the scene, commented to Cora.

 

“I think it’s kind of adorable how much she likes Miss Potts.” Cora shrugged.

 

“Yeah. Toni’s probably not used to caring so much about someone.” He reflected more to himself.

 

“Apparently none of you are.” Cora said dryly, her eyes boring holes into him.

 

Clint swallowed hard. “Did I do something?” He asked, somewhere between worried and truly confused.

  
“No.” She arched a brow. “That’s exactly the problem.” She ignored Clint’s dumbfounded expression, and turned to Toni. “Miss Stark, I have to go. Oh, and we’re all set for the charity Thanksgiving’s dinners.

 

“Thanks, Cora.” Toni finally let go of Pepper and turned to her assistant. “I’m taking the plane tomorrow, so you give Bruce a lot of love while I’m gone.”

 

Cora narrowed her eyes. “I could give the Captain a lot of love.” She threw back.

 

“Ooh, claws! Love it.” Toni cheered. “And darling, if you manage it, I’ll give you a raise. Have fun.”

 

“Wait a second!” Clint cut in. “Where are you going?”

 

“Japan.” Toni replied with the same simplicity of a person saying they were going to the corner to buy cigarettes.

 

“For what?”

 

“Well, I really want to eat Japanese food.” She shrugged. “And there’s this huge technology fair happening this week there. All the latest tech is gonna be there and I love that shit.”

 

“Sounds legit.” Clint snorted, then smirked. “Does that mean the house is free for us to party hard?”

 

“Is it ever not?” Toni threw back. “I love parties, so go for it. Just don’t do drugs. I’m against drugs. And Justin Bieber.”

 

Clint chuckled. “Well, when you get back Nat and I need to talk to you.”

 

“Dad and mom want to talk to me? What did I do? And why can’t we do this now?” She said all at once.

 

Clint rolled his eyes. “We believe you should get some basic training with weapons and self-defense, improve your physical preparation.” He explained. “So we can avoid another situation like Killian’s. We can train you.”

 

“Hey! I handled that whole thing very well, thank you very much.” She protested.

 

“Only after you got the suit back.” He threw back, then sighed. “That’s why I didn’t want to talk about this now. Nat would explain better.”

 

Toni narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re a chicken, Barton.” She threw her hands up. “I’m going to Japan, and when I get back there’ll be no training. I’m warning you!”

 

Toni left, stomping away like an angry five-year-old. Cora and Pepper rolled their eyes in perfect synchrony and followed after her.

 

Clint smiled to himself as he walked to the fridge. He was going to make a quick snack then spend the rest of the day training. He was still doing missions for SHIELD with Nat, but they’d agreed with Toni that the agency had to stay out of the Tower.

 

He had no problems with that rule. He actually liked it a lot.

 

Natasha could never find out -she’d never let him live it down -but Clint was tired, drained from all the field work. And, if he was inclined to be very honest, tired of SHIELD as well. However, for people like him, there was no other option. Unless he wanted to go back to the circus (he didn’t).

 

These last months, Clint’d had an idea dancing around his head, but he figured it’d better talk to Phil about it. Phil would know what to do, he always did.

 

“Is Cora here?”

 

Clint felt a shiver running down his spine, the same he always felt when he heard Darcy’s voice. **(2)** The effect she had over him was ridiculous, especially after so much time. Living under the same roof had been a stupid idea. Being mature sucked.

 

“She just left.” He told without turning to look at her.

 

“Damn it…”

  
“Do you need something?” He asked, still focused solely on his sandwich. He wasn’t going to look at her.

 

“Nothing that can’t wait.” She told him softly.

 

Clint heard the soft steps -she was barefoot, then -coming closer. He couldn’t hear the twinkling of her bracelets, so he deduced she was still getting ready for the day.

 

“Do you know how fresh this coffee is?”

 

Ok, if she was going to talk to him, Clint had to turn around. Keeping his back to her wasn’t mature, and they were all working on this maturity thing.

 

“Cora made it 15 minutes ago.” He informed her as he turned.

 

Oh fuck…

 

Fortunately, Darcy still had her back to him, because… Oh Lord…

 

There was something that Darcy didn’t know, and Clint would rather she never did. Even though that night at the bar had been the first time they’d officially met, he’d been keeping an eye on Jane’s lab. And, from afar, he’d thought Darcy was adorable. It’d been the glasses, he’d realized later, coupled with her amazing smiles and the weird dances she did out of nowhere. But, above all, it was the glasses.

 

Darcy was pouring a pound of sugar on her coffee. Her glasses were on the tip of her nose, like they were on the verge of falling; her hair was held back by a pencil, but the updo seemed one second way from coming undone. She was wearing a purple tank top, and he could see the black lace of her bra.

 

Fuck. This wasn’t going to end well for him. He didn’t have that much self-control. Actually –where Darcy was concerned –he had no self-control at all.

 

“Clint? Did you hear me?” Darcy was looking at him with a concerned frown now.

 

Breathe in, breathe out. He could do this. “Sorry, I didn’t. What was it?”

 

“I just wanted to thank you.” She smiled at him.

 

“For what?” He asked confused.

 

“For being so nice to me.” She explained. “When they asked if it was okay for us to live under the same roof.” She elaborated when it became clear he wasn’t following her.

 

“Well, that… wasn’t a big deal.” He was getting a bit awry of where this conversation was going.

 

“Of course it was, Clint.” She rolled her eyes. If you had said it was a problem, what do you think it’d have happened? They’d have kicked me out.”

 

“Of course not!”

 

“Yes, they would.” She laughed. “You’re an Avenger, VIP, super-duper important. I’m just an assistant. And many guys would take the easy way out, instead of having to see their one-night stand around daily.”

 

Clint had no idea what to say to that. There was something wrong with this whole scene. He felt like was being played somehow.

 

“I appreciate the maturity.” She continued. “And how respectful you’ve been. Some guys aren’t like that at all.”

 

Clint let out a relieved sigh. “You don’t have to thank me, Darcy.” He told her earnestly. “You’re an amazing person, and essential to Doctor Foster’s work. You deserve my utmost respect.”

 

Darcy blushed. It was something else he thought it was adorable about her: for such a mouthy girl, she sure blushed a lot.

 

“Yeah, well, when you say shit like that, I remember why I let you press me up against the first available wall.” She laughed.

 

“What?” He was truly shocked now.

 

“We aren’t going to pretend it never happened, right?” She rolled her eyes. “Sure, it doesn’t have to be a weekly topic of discussion –it doesn’t even mean it’s going to happen again –but it was good and…”

 

“Good? You call that ‘good’?”

 

Ok, that was a bit much. Good? GOOD? What they’ve done, the whole freaking night, had been ‘good’?

 

“Yeah, good.” Darcy looked truly baffled by his reaction. “Any problem?”

 

Clint was about to explain to her that, fuck yes, there was a problem. Actually, he was about to demonstrate it, when Toni came back to the kitchen.

 

The billionaire looked from one to the other, then smirked. “I was about to tell you something, Katniss, but I’ve changed my mind. Carry on.”

 

“Toni, wait!” Darcy called as the woman made it to leave the kitchen again.

 

“Yes?” Toni turned back.

 

Darcy picked up the People’s magazine that someone had left on the counter. On its cover there was a man with a beard and very blue eyes.

 

“Have you ever slept with Oliver Queen?” **(3)** Darcy asked, pointing at the picture.

 

Toni made a face. “No. He wishes.”

 

Darcy seemed disappointed by the answer. “Why not?”

 

“Before his vacations at Lost he was a spoiled little brat. After Lost he became this brooding douchebag that still plays at being a brat. So… Better not.” She spoke as if it was some solid reasoning. “And I think he’s a bit too young for me.” She reflected about that one for a minute. “Besides, the only rich playboy I ever nailed was Bruce Wayne. I like being the richest one in bed.”

 

“I read about you two.” Darcy commented.

 

“Yeah, but it wasn’t the big romance the media created for us.” Toni shrugged. “Honestly, who has time for romance, when there’s so much else to do?”

  
“Like?” Clint asked, even though he was pretty sure he was going to regret it.

 

“Drinking, partying and randomly hooking up”, was the automatic answer.

 

Clint barked a laughter. “You have some serious issues, Stark.”

 

Toni curtsied prettily. “Thanks, I know. Have fun, kids. Auntie Toni comes back next week. Maybe”

 

Clint rolled his eyes to the billionaire’s retreating back, but when he turned to keep talking to Darcy, she was also leaving.

 

“It was great talking to you, Clint.” She waved at him.

 

“Hey, where are you going?”

 

“Exercise a bit. I have this lovely shape to keep, buddy. So maybe I’ll just… Skip rope.” She told him, giving a demonstrative skip.

 

Clint dearly hoped he wasn’t drooling. She shouldn’t skip or jump with a tank top like that.

 

“Bye, Clint.” She winked at him.

 

That was when Clint finally realized: there was something afoot here. And if Nat wasn’t involved in any way, he’d eat his favorite bow.

 

XxX

 

Despite the best balcony on the whole Tower being on Toni’s floor, there was another one a few floors below. It was a great place to step out for a minute and watch the city.

 

Steve liked to sit there sometimes and draw the surrounding buildings. However, this time, the place wasn’t empty when he got there: Thor was standing there, his eyes fixed on the sky.

  
“Good evening, Thor.”

 

Thor turned to him with a huge grin. “Steve, my friend. How do your fare this evening?”

 

Steve wasn’t a weak man, but even he got a bit winded with Thor’s friendly slaps on the back. “Fine, and you?”

 

“I came searching for the stars.” Thor explained. “But, as usual, they hide on the skies of your city.” The last part was a sorrowful statement.

 

Steve felt the same sorrow Thor felt; New York had too much artificial lighting and pollution, so it was impossible to see the stars most of the time.

  
“Where’s Doctor Foster?” Steve asked.

 

“Lady Jane is the middle of a very important study.” Thor informed him proudly. “And she just had a ‘breakthrough’.” He spoke as if he was trying to replicate the same words she might’ve used. “Apparently, I distract her, so I was cast out of the room.” There was a certain pride in this last comment as well.

 

Steve smiled. “How are you adapting to all of this, Thor?” He wondered, because maybe the Asgardian had an answer for him as well.

 

Steve wasn’t even sure he himself was actually adapting to all of this. Sometimes it seemed simple enough, and in other moments it looked impossible. Sometimes he felt he was going well, but then something happened and he ended feeling old, out of his time and lost.

 

To be honest, he always felt lost.

 

It wasn’t about the way people dressed or talked. It was how they acted: as if honestly, politeness and minimum human consideration weren’t fashionable anymore. He saw kid walking around like they owned the streets, ignoring the wisdom of their elders, the suffering of the less fortunate, and life in general. It was as if the whole world, suddenly, thought that life fit inside a cellphone screen.

 

“I cannot say it is simple.” Thor replied. “Some of costumes on Midgard are… Different.” He finished diplomatically. “I don’t understand much of the beliefs your people hold here. However, here I found great allies and true friends, and Jane…” It was like the power of his words conjured the doctor in front of him, like he could see her quite clear right now in front of him. “She is more than I have ever expected to find. Not just a lover, but a friend, a strong woman. Someone that honors me, by allowing me to call her mine.”

 

Steve felt a tiny bit envious of the Asgardian. Not because he wanted Jane Foster -he didn’t even want to think about who he actually wanted -but because he wanted to feel that too: feel complete and victorious because he belonged to someone.

 

It was hard not to think about Peggy at times like this. They’d had so much potential, they could’ve had something fantastic. But they never did and never would, and -sometimes -it was hard to accept that too. It felt like he’d been cheated out of that.

 

He wanted what Jane and Thor had, what Pepper and Phil were building. He wanted someone.

 

“You’re a lucky man, Thor.” He told the big man, earnest and happy for him.

 

“I am aware. However... Sometimes I think about Asgard.” Thor’s eyes went to the sky. “I left my friends behind, my father is alone right after losing my mother. And Loki…” He sighed. “I know there’s nothing but resentment between you and him, but he was my brother. And even if it is hard for you to believe it, he was good and he died honorably.”

 

Steve put his hand on his friend’s shoulder in support. “I always catch myself thinking about the years before, about the Brooklyn that only exists on my memories now.”

 

“I believe that, in a way, we are both aliens to them.” Thor spoke with a grin.

 

“I guess so.”

 

But Steve was tired of being that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, there you have it! I’m sorry for the lack of proper Toni/Steve on this chapter, but they’ll be back on the next one, I promise!
> 
> I just want to make a side note… I started this fanfiction before the Winter Soldier and Avengers 2 were released. So I had to fix some stuff (Bucky will still show up, eventually) and Civil War wasn’t even part of my dreams, so take all of that into account please.
> 
> (1) In the comics, Barton was married to Bobbi Morse (she shows up in Agents of Shield). She isn’t about to make an appearance, it was just to give some background.  
> (2) I didn’t know that Clint was deaf back then, because the movie completely ignored that about him, so… Sorry about it.  
> (3) Yup, that Oliver Queen. lol
> 
> Thank you so much for the kudos and comments. Let me know your feelings now too!
> 
> Cheers


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